How do I Manage Dust on a Haul Road?

Dust is a major hazard in mines, quarries and roadway construction sites. It is a hazard to humans who can suffer from a variety of respiratory illnesses as a result of it. It is a hazard to driving safety as vision can be obscured and it is a hazard to lorries and other equipment as moving parts can get clogged up and malfunction. Not surprisingly the government has brought in a number of regulations to make sure that this problem is minimised as much as possible. Here at Proof Engineers, we have a unique road dust monitoring system called The Dustective to help you deal with compliance issues, thereby helping you maintain a safe working environment on your haul road.

Our Proof Engineers Road Condition Monitor

The first thing you need in order to keep dust on your haul road under control, is to be able to identify exactly where your dust hot-spots are. This is where our Road Condition Monitor is invaluable. One machine scans your whole site and shows you in colour coding the dust levels on different parts of the site. Red, orange, yellow and green separate the different dust levels on the various areas of your site.

The way the system works is that the 12-volt monitor is attached to trucks and light vehicles and measures vibrations as it drives along the road. The data is sent over the mobile network to a central computer for processing. The more monitors operating round the site, the more accurate the final colour-coded dust map will be.

Our “Dustective” Mobile Monitor

This is another of those invaluable road dust monitoring services from Proof Engineers that will help you keep dust on your site under control. This monitors the particles in the air generated by tyres over dusty roads. Again, the data is transmitted via the mobile telephone network to a central computer and turned into a colour-coded map. The two monitoring systems combined give a very clear picture of which parts of your site are most affected by dust, so that you know exactly where to take action to keep dust levels down.

The Dust Suppression Measures to Take

The principal way of keeping dust down is to dampen it with water. You won’t necessarily have water close at hand and may need to bring it over with water lorries. This can be expensive. By knowing where the dust hot-spots are, you can concentrate your expensive water resources on the worst affected areas. In some areas water is simply too scarce and in hot climes it can evaporate too quickly. That is why chlorine based chemical compounds are sometimes used as dust suppressant alternatives. These evaporate less readily than water and bind better with the dust.

Know First Where to Suppress the Dust

Whatever you spray to dampen the dust on your site, it is essential to know which areas need the most attention so that you can address your compliance issues in the most economical way possible. The Proof Engineers road monitoring systems help you do just that. As well as dealing with your legal obligations you will find that keeping dust on your haul road under control will also cut down your fuel bills and reduce the amount of maintenance needed on your equipment.

For more information contact Proof Engineers, or call us on +61 7 5522 0855.