Project Description: T PRO® 550 was used successfully to stabilize over 10 miles of aggregate service roads for wind turbines. Critical to operation, repair, and electrical service to over 200,000 homes. Strauss Wind Farm is owned and operated by BayWa Energy out of Germany. We used our Polymer material to tackle their dust control issue and well as stabilize and revitalize their roads on the property. The client was pleased to the point they asked us to do a demonstration for the senior management team and sign a service agreement with them to service their other facilities in the future.
Project Objectives: A major energy company came to Lithic Industries and their T-PRO® 550 polymer technology, to provide an environmentally friendly solution for creating a stable, permanent easily maintained network of service roads. Serving thousands of homes with crucial electricity, it was necessary to provide technicians and other staff reliable access to each turbine in all weather conditions. Existing aggregate roads were treated with T-PRO® 550, graded and compacted to form roads with compressive strengths more than 1000 psi! These values are over 400% increases in the physical properties of the untreated aggregate base and provide both dry and wet stability for all season use.
Another key element in the decision-making process, was the necessity to provide an environmentally friendly option. T-PRO® 550 is FDA approved safe for food contact and has zero environmentally injurious chemistry and is safe for all those handling the material.
Finally, there were areas where badly degraded asphalt needed repair and renewal. Once again, T-PRO® 550 was approved to be infused into a 6” base profile, graded and compacted to create a hard durable “recycled asphalt” road section. The project was completed under the time allotment and on budget!
Equipment Used: Wertgen Milling machine, grader, compactor and water truck.
Maintenance Requirements: Periodic seal coating renewal is required for permanent road use. Maintenance schedules vary on each project and are determined by type of aggregate, traffic volume and type and climatic conditions. Seal coat maintenance applications are “additive”, meaning with each maintenance coat the road becomes harder and more hydrophobic.