In many developing countries, particularly across Africa, the lack of reliable infrastructure poses significant challenges. This lack of infrastructure not only hinders transportation but also impacts housing and other major construction projects that require accessible routes for transport. To facilitate development and humanitarian efforts, it is often necessary to construct new dirt roads or feeder roads from scratch or to upgrade existing ones to support heavier loads or higher traffic volume.
As well, given the limited resources for ongoing road maintenance in many of these developing countries, it is also crucial to consider road construction solutions that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. The application or construction process must also be straightforward, as many areas may also lack access to advanced road construction equipment.
Using Soil Stabilization as a Sustainable and Cost-Effective Road-Building Solution
Soil stabilization can be an effective and affordable solution to solving these concerns.
Let us delve deeper into Cypher Environmental’s ROAD//STABILIZR® soil stabilization solution.
ROAD//STABILIZR® is a long-term soil stabilizer that is specifically designed to work on high clay-content materials. Historically, in-situ clay has been considered a low-quality road-building material. However, Cypher’s ROAD//STABILIZR® is not only able to make use of the in-situ clay, but it can also enhance its engineering properties to increase overall stability. It strengthens the treated material by increasing its density after compaction. As a result of the increased density, treated materials exhibit excellent improvements in road strength.
What makes ROAD//STABILIZR an ideal match for building infrastructure and road construction in developing countries
COST
By using the in-situ clay-based material, significant cost savings can be achieved by cutting back on expensive and more traditional stabilization materials, such as aggregate or cement. The application process is also straightforward; requiring only standard road-building techniques and equipment. This means that roads can be built without any additional capital investments.
LONG TERM RESULTS
ROAD//STABILIZR® is a long-term solution. Roads that are treated with ROAD//STABILIZR require no ongoing maintenance. Grading and general maintenance are applied only as needed. In the case of an application in a rural municipality in Canada, the treated road was used for 8 seasons before requiring maintenance. Since many developing countries may lack resources for ongoing maintenance, ROAD//STABILIZR presents a more affordable and sustainable solution.
LOGISTICAL ADVANTAGES
ROAD//STABILIZR is a highly concentrated making it more economical and environmentally friendly to transport around the world. Less product is required to treat the same area, thereby reducing transport costs and reducing emissions. The product is only mixed with water as needed, prior to application.
Real World Applications of ROAD//STABILIZR for Building Infrastructure in Africa
ROAD//STABILIZR has been used used in many projects around the world, from Columbia to China and Australasia. It has also been used widely in Africa for infrastructure and social initiatives. In 2022, Cypher was a part of a project in Eswatini (Swaziland) that utilized ROAD//STABILIZR® to improve their road conditions.
In Eswatini (Swaziland), the majority of their roads are clay-based making them susceptible to impact from the climate. Roads would become too slippery and unstable to support any traffic.
“Even four-by-four vehicles could not help because of the high steep roads. Most cars got stuck and blocked the roads,” a resident of the community commented. “School kids, sick people and tired working people could be forced to abandon cars and public transportation and walk all the way home on rainy days.” Another resident mentions not being able to reach the hospital with their asthmatic daughter on rainy days because no car could drive on one of their clay roads.
Farmers’ crops would spoil and ailing children could not reach hospitals because the roads were too slippery and unstable to drive on.
The community rallied together and presented their case for soil stabilization to the Microprojects arm of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. When looking into possible solutions for their roads, the community prioritized the environment since residents were known to consume untreated surface water from rivers and streams. The community did not want potential run off of harmful chemicals to end up in water or contaminating crops.
Choosing ROAD//STABILIZR as the solution of choice
The ability to use the in-situ clay materials was also important due to the difficulty in hauling aggregate materials through the mountainous region. Loaded haul trucks with aggregate or cement trucks would have been unable to climb the steep elevations.
Microprojects funded the procurement and application of ROAD//STABILIZR® for two roads at Ngudzeni and Ekufikeni, which were constructed by local contractor Encakini Construction. Eco-Green Developers, specializing in the green building infrastructure in Africa, coordinated the delivery of the project and coordinated all stakeholders to ensure the projects were a success. The stretch of road treated in Ekufikeni provided access a medical clinic in the Hhohho region in the mountains. This area of the country is subject to high rainfall and steep roads. There is significant farming in the area and people commute to the nearest towns for business and work daily. The ROAD//STABILIZR-treated road is a prime example of building infrastructure in Africa that is both effective and affordable.
Click here to learn more about our project in Eswatini (Swaziland).