58 Paper No.

971415 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1589

Earth Materials Catalyst Stabilization for

Frequency of use of concentrated liquid stabilizers to improve stabil- of application. Today, even modest improvements in stability can
ity of aggregate and soil materials in constructing roads and other be incorporated as cost-effective upgrades in the ongoing effort
transportation-related structures is increasing. Concentrated stabilizers to find every possible avenue to improve the performance and
are formulated specifically for modification, improvement, and stabi-
durability of our transportation network.
lization of aggregate and soil materials and require dilution in a water
solution before application to allow for adequate dispersion. Applied Understanding how a concentrated liquid stabilizer can provide sig-
costs of treatment are generally much less than conventional chemical nificant improvements in the stability of aggregate and soil materials
stabilization treatment, because application is much simpler and product is a challenge for reviewers without firsthand field experience. How-
and transportation costs are less. Treatments are applied to aggregate ever, concrete mix design, in which superconcentrated chemicals are
materials to reduce base course and subbase structural sections and to in common use as admixtures, provides some insight by analogy. In
strengthen resistance to repetitive loading and environmental factors. a concrete mix, cement functions as a binder and cementing agent as
Gravel loss and maintenance frequency have been greatly reduced for
unpaved roads and road shoulders. A report of these findings is timely, well as a chemical treatment. Generally, a liquid admixture chemical
because both public and private sectors are seeking cost-effective treat- is added to the concrete mix to help condition the combined mix of
ments to improve long-term performance of conventional pavements materials to achieve additional improvements in target engineering
and to help use limited budgets to address environmental regulations values, not to provide physical binding and cementation. Analo-
mandating dust control and sediment control for road shoulders and gously, in stabilization design, concentrated liquid stabilizers are
unpaved surfaces. Representative case studies of federal and state added to the compaction water, in part to condition the aggregate
agency projects that used an earth materials catalyst (a concentrated
or soil mixture for improved wetting and improved workability and
liquid stabilizer) document the benefits of appropriate application of
concentrated liquid stabilizer technology. mixing and in part to facilitate a degree of densification under com-
pactive effort beyond that achievable with water alone. These condi-
tioning benefits are not common to the use of conventional soil
Concentrated liquid chemicals are being used with increasing fre- stabilizers, which during construction generally add elements to the
quency to improve the stability of aggregate and soil materials in mixture that inhibit rather than facilitate wetting, mixing, compaction,
construction of roads and other transportation-related structures. and achievement of high density.
These low-cost treatments have been incorporated into a wide spec- It should be noted that a concentrated liquid stabilizer can be used
trum of private sector projects as well as applications by federal, in combination with one or more conventional soil stabilizers, just
state, provincial, and local agencies in the United States, Canada, as combinations of conventional soil stabilizers are sometimes used
and other countries around the world. Concentrated liquid stabi- to improve engineering values beyond levels achievable by use of a
lizers are formulated specifically for modification, improvement, single product (e.g., an aggregate or soil treated with a mixture of
and stabilization of aggregate and soil materials and require dilu- cement and fly ash).
tion in a water solution before application to allow for adequate dis- Earth materials catalysts are concentrated liquid stabilizers
persion of the liquid concentrate. Dilution rates can range from less designed to improve the density and stability of compacted aggre-
than 1 part per hundred to more than 1 part per thousand, depend- gate and earth materials. They have been successfully applied for
ing on the specific concentrated liquid stabilizer product and the dust control, erosion control, gravel road treatment, and sediment
difference between the in situ moisture and the optimum moisture control applications as well as for improvement of earthworks and
content of the material to be treated. This class of stabilizers does load-bearing structures. These complex formulations are activated
not include water-soluble dust palliatives or surface-applied by a biological catalyst fraction and are well-documented to be en-
erosion-control sprays; nor does it include conventional soil stabi- vironmentally friendly products. The best and most advanced
lizers such as lime, fly ash, cement, and asphalt, which are usually of these formulations have proven effective with a wide range of
applied to aggregate and soil materials at additive rates 100 times materials and applications, including aggregate and soil materials
or more the additive rate of the concentrated liquid stabilizer. that are subjected to passenger vehicle and heavy truck traffic
Applied costs of a concentrated liquid stabilizer treatment are gene- without protection of surface treatments or pavements. The liquid
rally much less than the conventional chemical soil stabilizers, concentrate is simply added to the compaction water and applied
because their application is much simpler and product and trans- as a dilute solution during the normal moisturization and mixing
portation costs are less. This greater economy opens up new areas operations used to bring aggregate and soil materials to optimum
moisture content for compaction. The optimum moisture content
Soil Stabilization Products Company, Inc., P.O. Box 2779, Merced, Calif. of a treated aggregate or soil is generally lower than that of a
95344. material conditioned for compaction with water alone. Use of earth
Randolph Paper No. 971415 59

materials catalyst treatments also reduces water consumption a 75-µm (No. 200) sieve with an average plasticity index (PI) of 6.
demands at project sites during the compaction phase of construc- The project goal was to compare the economics of stabilization
tion. No special curing procedures are required, and traffic can be treatment with those of the existing dust palliative program.
allowed on stabilized surfaces immediately after compaction if the
moisture content has been carefully controlled to ensure that the
finished surface is firm enough to resist rutting. Treated materials Treatment The first 2 km was constructed with aggregate
will gain noticeable strength and surface hardness in the first several that had been processed and treated in a portable pugmill unit and
days after final compaction, and the majority of curing effects and hauled in bottom dump trucks to the project location. The second
stability improvements occur during the first week. 2-km section was treated after the aggregate was placed on road
Attaining high density is fundamental to stability. “We know that grade in a mixed-in-place operation. A water truck was used to
as the density of a soil increases, its strength increases. Also, as its apply the earth materials catalyst solution, and a motor grader
density increases, both its compressibility and permeability decrease” equipped with scarifier teeth was the only mixing equipment. Two
(1, p. 73). “As porosity and void ratio decrease, the engineering prop- sections were installed in this manner to test the importance of
erties of a given soil become more dependable with decreases in mixing effort in applications of this product technology. Given the
permeability and compressibility and an increase in strength” (2). conditioning benefits of treatments, it was no real surprise that
Product technology capable of increasing aggregate and soil density, state maintenance and geotechnical staff observed no loss of per-
beyond levels possible with water and compactive effort alone, clearly formance when low-cost scarification was the only form of mix-
benefits long-term performance of engineered structures and provides ing. It is important to note that the project was a state highway, and
an alternative to the limitations of conventional compaction and field controls were of a quality more commonly associated with
conventional soil stabilization products. paved highway construction than that more typical of unpaved
Earth materials catalyst treatment conditions the aggregate or roads. State quality-control technicians provided tight moisture
soil material to achieve the highest level of density and stability and compaction control inspection on both of the constructed sec-
possible under a given compactive effort. Although the stabilizer tions, and grade controls were carefully observed to ensure align-
has other beneficial chemical activities and linkages within the ment as a running surface for the expected high-speed traffic.
aggregate or soil material that increase the strength and moisture Throughout the project, passenger vehicle and truck traffic con-
resistance of the cured material, the fundamental importance of tinued to use the road, as the earth materials catalyst treatment
increased density is key to understanding the broad spectrum bene- was ready to support traffic immediately after compaction and, in
fits available from application of appropriately matched concen- fact, benefited from the additional compactive energy supplied by
trated liquid stabilizer treatment during construction with earth traffic during its curing period.
materials. A monitoring period of only 3 years (1991–1994) was selected
because the primary goal was to compare the dust-control effec-
tiveness of the stabilization treatment with the water-soluble dust
PROJECT REVIEWS palliative products, which required reapplication at least once each
summer as well as yearly reprocessing of the top 50 mm of aggre-
A short summary of representative case studies is provided here, gate with a motor grader during each application to incorporate the
including FHWA experimental features projects and a number of calcium chloride. An adjacent section of road, graded and retreated
applications by other federal agencies and state departments of each summer with calcium chloride, was used as a comparison
transportation. Projects reviewed include treatment of nonplastic section for the study.
and plastic aggregates; recycled concrete aggregate; and clay, sandy
silt, and silty sand soils.
Results Late 1992, after two summers of service with only
minor touch-up in the superelevated curves, the stabilized section
State of Alaska was described as being essentially maintenance free. Involved
ADOT&PF staff unanimously gave the stabilized road section an
The State of Alaska’s Department of Transportation and Public excellent performance rating. In his memorandum of final evalua-
Facilities (ADOT&PF) has completed two FHWA experimental tion, the state’s regional geotechnical engineer commented that the
feature projects that incorporated earth materials catalyst treatments test area’s maintenance foreman expressed only positive opinions
on well-known state highways. about its performance through the end of the second summer of eval-
uation. With regard to comparative dust-control effectiveness, the
memorandum reported that the earth materials catalyst had a slight
Elliott Highway Project performance edge over calcium chloride and that it was less expen-
sive to apply (even when calculated as if it required the same annual
The “Pipeline Haul Road,” known today as the Elliott Highway and application frequency as the calcium chloride) (3).
the Dalton Highway, was built to service the Prudhoe Bay oil fields
and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. It presents a maintenance challenge
with approximately 725 km of gravel-surfaced road servicing year- Extended Follow-Up The laboratory supervisor of the inde-
round heavy truck traffic in severe conditions common to cold pendent materials testing laboratory involved in monitoring the
regions. In late spring of 1991, approximately 4 km of new aggre- FHWA experimental feature project on behalf of the supplier of
gate surface course material was treated on the Elliott Highway the earth materials catalyst product made two site visits during late
beginning at the transition from asphalt to gravel surfaces. The September 1993 to obtain additional aggregate from stockpile and
aggregate material crushed on location averaged 12 percent passing to provide a video record of the stabilized and control sections. He
60 Paper No. 971415 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1589

reported only a few small potholes on the stabilized section, under reconstruction as part of the Alaska Highway 1222 North
located in the worst stress area of the superelevated curves, no project. The test section is located near the border of Yukon Terri-
larger than “half a grapefruit.” He was able to drive the legal speed tory in an area of severe subgrade stability problems that required
limit, approximately 90 km/hr (55 mph) on the stabilized section constant maintenance to restore the elevation of the subsiding
but had to reduce driving speed to less than 40 km/hr (25 mph) on embankment. This portion of the Alaska Highway was originally
the control section, which had been retreated with the dust pallia- paved in the early 1960s and was completely removed and
tive only 4 months previously. Numerous potholes of 2 to 3 m replaced three times before the current effort. In between recon-
diameter were observed in the control section (R. Fletcher, Arctic struction efforts, asphalt patching was required at 1- to 3-year
Alaska Testing Laboratories, subsidiary of Shannon & Wilson, intervals and areas dropped from original pavement elevation by
Inc., 1993, unpublished data). as much as 150 mm (6 in.) to 1.22 m (4 ft). On the unstabilized sec-
After five summers of service without protection of pavement or a tions of the current reconstruction, the service life of the new pave-
surface treatment, state maintenance crews applied an experimental ment is expected to be between 2 and 5 years (D. Schaefer,
bituminous surface treatment to the stabilized test section in late sum- DOT&PF, 1996, unpublished data). The subgrade will be covered
mer 1995 after reworking the top 50 mm of the treated aggregate to by an untreated crushed aggregate base course material with a bitu-
prepare the surface. The maintenance foreman reported that the treat- minous surface treatment as the final running surface. The earth
ment below was observed to have retained its cementation and solid materials catalyst treatment was applied in late June 1996 to a sub-
support, now functioning as a stabilized or bound base. An October grade mixture of sandy silt soil, contaminated base course aggre-
1995 inspection after application of the bituminous surface treatment gate, and asphalt of uneven gradation, which was crushed with a
verified that the stabilized section of highway continued to provide grid roller. The ADOT&PF materials section will utilize falling
excellent alignment, easily supporting driving speeds of 110 km/hr weight deflectometer testing to monitor this FHWA experimental
(70 mph), whereas much of the adjacent 3-year-old asphalt pavement feature project.
was unsafe to drive at 89 km/hr (55 mph) (W. Beach, Arctic Alaska
Testing Laboratories, subsidiary of Shannon & Wilson, Inc., 1995,
unpublished data). Other State Departments of Transportation

California
Related Laboratory Testing The memorandum of evalua-
tion included as an attachment a report of independent laboratory An earth materials catalyst has been in regular use for the past
testing comparing untreated with treated aggregate specimens. 2 years to solve compaction problems with a silty sand soil on a
ASTM D 2166 unconfined compressive strength tests were con- new section of freeway under construction by the California
ducted after 14 days of curing, resulting in a strength measure of Department of Transportation. The contractor on the Livingston
1 850 kPa (269 lbf/in.2) for the untreated aggregate and 2 900 kPa Bypass Project was unable to achieve specified compaction levels
(421 lbf/in.2) for the treated material (single-specimen tests). An with water alone and solved this problem by conditioning the soil
additional test was conducted to quantify the conditioning bene- materials with the earth materials catalyst treatment ahead of
fits of the stabilizer in preparing the aggregate for compaction. compaction operations (C. Roos, RGW Construction, Inc., 1995,
Both treated and untreated aggregate samples were brought to unpublished data).
optimum moisture content. The untreated material was compacted
to 97 percent ASTM D 1557 modified proctor compactive effort.
The treated material was brought to the same target density with Mississippi
15 percent less compactive effort (3).
After a successful in-house testing series, the Mississippi Depart-
ment of Transportation approved an earth materials catalyst treat-
Significance This FHWA experimental feature project pro- ment for road shoulder aggregate materials as a means of reducing
vides additional insights arising from the fortuitous placement of road shoulder erosion (M. O’Brien, Mississippi Department of
the asphalt pavement and base course on the paved portion of the Transportation, 1996, unpublished data). Evaluation included both
Elliott Highway immediately adjacent to the stabilized test section field testing and testing in the District 5 materials laboratory
during the summer of 1992. The paving project involved removal pavement materials branch.
and replacement of the existing damaged pavement. By the next A Marshall stability testing apparatus was used to evaluate proba-
summer, stability problems in base course materials under the ble effectiveness with the nonplastic aggregate material. The average
pavement were so severe that significant deformation in alignment of the stability measures obtained with untreated aggregate speci-
was obvious and truckers heading south to Fairbanks reported the mens was 9 648 N (2,168 lbf), whereas the stability measures of the
need to significantly reduce driving speeds for safe operation as treated aggregate specimens averaged 17 580 N (3,952 lbf) (B. Parks,
they left the stabilized road and transitioned onto the year-old Mississippi Department of Transportation, 1995, unpublished data).
pavement.

U.S. Military
Alaska Highway 1222 North Project
U.S. Army
Continuing this initiative, ADOT&PF began conceptual design for
an experimental feature project involving treatment of subgrade U.S. Army installations include a wide variety of unpaved trans-
soils in early 1994. This section of the Alaska Highway is currently portation structures in the interest of economy and to maintain
Randolph Paper No. 971415 61

mission readiness for situations where developed runways, heli- are being excavated and consolidated within a single newly con-
pads, and roads do not exist. Earth materials catalyst treatment has structed landfill cell. Haul roads, winding through the constantly
been used on clay-surfaced runways for C-130 landings known as changing topography of the sand dune environment adjacent to
forward landing strips as well as for treatment of unpaved roads Monterey Bay, service 600 daily trips by heavy all-terrain dump
subject to heavy loading. trucks. The roads were constructed with recycled concrete aggregate
A 1994 construction project at Fort Carson in the Rocky Moun- (RCA) crushed to meet gradation requirements for aggregate base
tains adjacent to Colorado Springs, Colorado, incorporated an earth course. The RCA material was processed with the earth materials
materials catalyst treatment of expansive clay soils to improve the catalyst treatment as it was placed, and the compacted surface was
performance of a dirt road built parallel to a main paved road to pro- treated with a spray application of resin-modified emulsion.
vide access for overweight equipment such as M1 Abrams battle
tanks, large trucks, and giant low-bed haulers used to transport mil-
itary and construction equipment. Before the stabilization treatment, Federal Lands Agencies
the road surface rutted deeply in wet weather and required constant
grading maintenance. The base operations and maintenance con- Bureau of Land Management
tractor processed the treatment into the top 150 mm (6 in.) of the ele-
vated road and tank trail and placed it back in service the same day The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management
after compaction operations. (BLM) used the same combination on two recent projects on hilly
On-site inspection through fall, winter, and spring weather con- terrain. The first project involved treatment of new aggregate sur-
ditions documented that, without maintenance, the condition of the face course materials as they were placed on steep road grades in
treated road remained superior throughout to adjacent sections of Arizona north of the Grand Canyon as part of a BLM program to
road maintained by monthly grading. That the road had been sub- provide a well-bound running surface for local ranches and recre-
jected to battle tanks turning sharply on the surface was evidenced ational traffic and eliminate frequent and costly mobilization of
only by ruts in the untreated shoulder areas, some as deep as 600 mm grading equipment to this remote road location. A resin-modified
(2 ft.), made as the tanks maneuvered off the road surface (4). After emulsion treatment was spray applied to the surface several
the second winter of service, maintenance crews at Fort Carson months after initial construction to provide additional protection
reported that the treated road continued to support all forms of heavy of the surface.
traffic without damage to the road structure (R. Collins, PA&E, The second project involved treatment of a road constructed with
1996, unpublished data). native soils containing natural asbestos, a serious health hazard
The soil used for construction of the road and tank trail had a when airborne. The BLM implemented an in-place stabilization pro-
liquid limit of 47 and a plasticity index of 25, with 100 percent gram. The stabilized soil continues to serve as the road surface
passing a 150-µm (No. 100) sieve, 95.5 percent passing a 75-µm course with the additional protection of a spray-applied armor coat
(No. 200) sieve, and an AASHTO classification of A-7-6. ASTM of resin-modified emulsion that was applied immediately after final
D 2166 unconfined compressive strength tests were conducted compaction.
on treated soil specimens after 3 days of curing, resulting in an Material sampled from the project site was a nonplastic coarse
average strength measure of 3 900 kPa (566 lbf/in3) (4). silty sand with fine gravel with 19 percent passing a 75-µm
(No. 200) sieve. ASTM D 2166 unconfined compressive strength
tests were conducted, resulting in a strength measure of 2 760 kPa
U.S. Air Force (400 lbf/in.2) for the untreated soil and 4 000 kPa (580 lbf/in.2) for
the treated soil (single specimen tests). R-value tests (CAL. T301)
A 1994 U.S. Air Force project at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, were also conducted to determine pavement support characteris-
Arizona, used earth materials catalyst treatment to stabilize silty tics. The untreated soil had an R value of 52; the treated soil had
gravel soils adjacent to concrete runways used by fighter jets based an R value of 70 (5).
there. Stabilization of areas surrounding the runways protects jets
from foreign object damage and fugitive dust generated by jet blast
and high winds. Soils were treated and compacted to a depth of National Park Service
150 mm (6 in.) and then covered by a spray-applied armor coat of a
resin-modified emulsion, a cold-applied nonionic formulation of tree The U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service (NPS)
resin ingredients used as an alternative to asphalt products for road has put an earth materials catalyst stabilizer through extremely rig-
surface treatments, and permanent pavements as well as dust-control orous laboratory analyses and field testing to verify that it is appro-
and erosion-control applications. priate for use on road and trail systems in environmentally sensitive
locations. A project to improve access to the world famous Rainbow
Bridge, the huge natural arch of stone in Glen Canyon, is represen-
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tative of the increasingly popular use of earth materials catalyst
treatment for base course stabilization of roads and trails built in
Other federal agencies are utilizing this same design concept for riparian areas, estuaries, and other sites that require engineering
road construction on projects where budgets are limited or for spe- approaches that are environmentally appropriate and sensitive to the
cial situations when components in aggregate or soil materials natural surroundings. This wheelchair-accessible trail also high-
within the road base are an environmental concern if not bound lights the fact that the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Inter-
within the road structure. As part of a nationwide environmental modal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 have made
restoration cleanup program at U.S. military bases managed by the high-quality walkways, trails, and bike paths an area of increasing
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, old landfills at Fort Ord, California, focus for transportation-related design and construction.
62 Paper No. 971415 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1589

Rainbow Bridge is visited by boat on Lake Powell, the huge crusher, mounted on a large front-end loader, was used to crush
water reservoir impounded upstream from the Grand Canyon by these existing road materials, which had been ripped up and bladed
Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona. With NPS estimates of more than into a windrow. A crushed aggregate was produced that was
300,000 annual visitors and peak season averages of 37,500 visi- suitable for immediate road surfacing use or eventually as base
tors per month to the Rainbow Bridge site, accessibility improve- course for pavement. The mobile crusher unit was followed imme-
ments had to be as durable as possible given the intense visitor diately by a train of equipment, including a water truck applying
traffic and unusual project constraints. All equipment and aggre- the earth materials catalyst solution, a motor grader for mixing and
gate and treatment products had to be barged to location for this placement, and a vibratory compactor. Performance of the stabi-
1994 project. Materials had to meet NPS criteria for aesthetics and lized, crushed-in-place aggregate is reported as excellent after a
water-quality protection as well as additional criteria for use of year of service, and placement of a pavement surface course is
natural materials color coordinating with surrounding rock struc- planned directly on top of the bound aggregate base (B. Freel,
tures, a requirement of the five Native American tribes that use this USDA Forest Service, 1996, unpublished data).
site as a sacred, religious, and ceremonial location. Moreover, the
aggregate/reddish clayey sand blend that was selected for use had
to be treated to survive annual inundation by seasonal high-water SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
levels behind the dam. After a field-testing program at park main-
tenance headquarters, materials and equipment were mobilized to This review has covered the reported performance of nonplastic and
the Rainbow Bridge location. A 75-mm (3-in.) pavement was con- plastic aggregate materials and recycled concrete aggregates in earth
structed on site with a resin-modified emulsion, supported by materials catalyst treatment as well as in treatment of clay soils,
the stabilized aggregate base course. This innovative pavement sandy silt soils, and silty sands. Applications have included stabi-
structural section has now provided safe access for hundreds of lized aggregates and soils used as road and runway surface courses
thousands of visitors. as well as treatment of base course aggregates and subgrade soils.
Earth materials catalyst treatment has proven cost-effective with
additional types of soils and for nontransportation-related projects,
USDA Forest Service such as test ranges and landfill covers where large areas of com-
pacted soil must be hardened to resist wind and rain erosion without
Ozark National Forest, Arkansas Two projects for the USDA additional protective cover. The broad spectrum effectiveness of a
Forest Service provide interesting case histories. The first, New modern earth materials catalyst treatment expands the practical
Blaine Road, in the Ozark National Forest near Paris, Arkansas, was range of stabilization beyond the limitations of lime treatment and
treated with earth materials catalyst as part of the FHWA Coordi- beyond the range of other concentrated liquid stabilizers, which are
nated Federal Lands Highway Technology Implementation Pro- effectively restricted to clay soils and to clay-rich aggregate materi-
gram and is described in a 1992 FHWA publication (6 ). The road als. Broad spectrum performance also increases reliability in field
traverses clay soils and steep grades in excess of 20 percent. His- application where the realities often include variability in aggregate
torically, poor drainage, traffic by timber harvest and poultry indus- and soil composition.
try trucks, freeze-thaw cycles, and the expansive clay subgrade Given the conservative trends of the modern economic climate and
combined to make the road nearly impassible during the winter the low cost of concentrated liquid stabilizer treatment, project engi-
months. The project began in 1988 with correction of some of the neers should routinely consider testing the effectiveness of stabiliza-
drainage problems. An aggregate surface course mix of equal parts tion treatment in their engineering evaluations, realizing that even
crushed aggregate and shale mix was combined with the earth modest improvements in the performance of available building
materials catalyst treatment. The experienced road construction materials can reduce construction costs and improve long-term per-
crew used the recommended vibratory compactor with attention to formance. There are limits to appropriateness and cost-effectiveness
moisture and compaction controls. Seven years after construction, for a particular application with all varieties of chemical and mechan-
the project engineer provided an update letter, reporting that the ical stabilization methods. Careful evaluation and testing are essential
stabilized surface showed little wear after 7 years of use and no ingredients, along with rigorous attention to construction specifica-
maintenance other than one small area with a severe grade where tions and to quality-control assurance during construction. Within that
erosion created by drainage problems created the need to reblade cautionary frame of reference, it is clear that there is sufficient basic
one cross rut. He also reported elimination of freeze-thaw damage understanding and successful field experience to support broader
and equally successful application of the earth materials catalyst implementation and application of the concentrated liquid stabilizer
on subsequent road projects in the forest (G. D. McElroy, USDA product technologies.
Forest Service, July 1995). As indicated by the case studies presented here, low-cost treat-
ment can be cost-effectively implemented for a wide variety of
applications. Additional field evaluation programs should be encour-
Coronado National Forest, Arizona The second Forest Ser- aged and research programs should be focused on increasing the
vice project was constructed in Portal Canyon, Arizona, in the sophistication of materials laboratory testing procedures to facilitate
Coronado National Forest. This spectacular sandstone canyon is expanded use of chemical stabilization treatments.
well-known to nature lovers and bird-watchers who frequent the The earth materials catalyst used in all the reported projects was
site in the southeastern corner of the state. The forest road main- EMC SQUARED Stabilizer, a product of Soil Stabilization Prod-
tenance crew chose an innovative approach in a 1995 project to ucts Company, Inc., from whom detailed product information can
upgrade the remote and difficult-to-maintain road originally cons- be obtained: SSPCo, P.O. Box 2779, Merced, Calif. 95344; Ph,
tructed of river run gravels and cobble-sized rocks. A mobile rock (209) 383-3296; Fax, (209) 383-7849.
Randolph Paper No. 971415 63

REFERENCES 4. Goode, J. Soils Testing Reports #66385. Fort Carson Tank Trail, Entech
Engineering, Inc., Fort Carson, Colo., 1994.
5. Williams, D. G. Geotechnical Report on Soil Sample Testing. TES #196-
1. Wray, W. K. Measuring Engineering Properties of Soil. Prentice-Hall,
2888.2. Technicon Engineering Services, Inc., Fresno, Calif., June 1996.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1986.
6. Scholen, D. G. Non-Standard Stabilizers. FHWA-FLP-92-011. FHWA,
2. Earth Manual: A Water Resources Technical Publication. U.S. Govern-
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1992.
ment Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1974.
3. McHattie, R. L. Final Evaluation of Experimental Features—Projects
AK8701A and AK8701B. Departmental Memorandum, Alaska Depart- Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Chemical and
ment of Transportation & Public Facilities, Jan. 1994. Mechanical Stabilization.