In 2016 Cypher unveiled its most recent road stabilization and dust control product, known as DUST/BLOKR® (DUST/BLOKR®).The product formula was produced in a joint Applied Research Project, with the help of NSERC & IRAP and involved significant in-kind contribution from Cypher, and involvement by students and faculty from the college. The overwhelmingly successful result has been a product that was commercialized in 2017, and has now been sold and applied in over 20 countries worldwide.
Red River College (RRC) is going through some significant expansion, with new buildings being erected in downtown Winnipeg, as well as at the Notre Dame campus. One of those being the Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre that has many sustainable strategies incorporated and is used for transportation training and educational facility that was built to respond to operational challenges, keep pace with industry growth, and attract quality applicants and educators to Red River College. Directly adjacent to the building is a large unpaved storage yard, being used to move the heavy equipment in and out of the building. Therefore a general focus of the yard’s conditions were to limit the amount of dust exposure and tracking inside the building, to minimize contamination of the expensive equipment inside. Therefore due to the confidence gained in the joint research project in 2016, RRC and Cypher decided to apply DUST/BLOKR® to the yard to minimize the fugitive dust levels, as well as provide added soil stability to minimize the maintenance requirements of the yard. Moreover, DUST/BLOKR® was chosen due to its non-corrosive composure, limiting any issues resulting from a product’s use so close to the new building and equipment, than some corrosive alternative products may have posed.
To date, the resulting surface has been described by RRC staff as “rock hard”, with no sign of dust. While the product, in many cases, is applied just for dust control, when used correctly it can also be utilized as a stabilizing agent, providing for enhanced engineering properties of the road material. The material in RRC’s yard was a ¾- crush, normally providing a very dusty surface when dry. To date even through the almost drought-like conditions experienced in Winnipeg this summer, and the extremely cold and wet autumn season, the yard remains very stable and dust free. We look forward to continue to collaborate with the college on future research projects, and were very happy to have had the opportunity to jointly showcase the product on their property.
A news article released by the RRC can be found here: https://www.rrc.ca/ar/2018/10/24/the-dust-stops-here-dust-control-demonstration-with-cypher-environmental/
The photo shows the sign proudly hung by the college to acknowledge the product application. A special thanks to NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) and IRAP (Industrial Research Assistance Program) for their contributions in helping to develop this great technology!