Development of a Methodology for Measurement of Vehicle Dust Generation on Unpaved Roads

This paper presents the results of a field study aimed at developing a methodology for measuring vehicle dust generation on an unpaved road. The methodology is based on the use of portable standard equipment known as Dust Mate. This equipment measures the number of particles per cubic centimeter for different particle sizes: particles less than 10, 2.5, and 1 μm in diameter. The methodology was developed to improve the management of unpaved roads and to study the performance of earth road dust suppressants. The Dust Mate equipment may be mounted in various types of vehicles, and measurements may be performed at various speeds. The equipment can record dust generation continuously and may be programmed to save the data for measurements over various time spans. This last feature will allow evaluation of short segments of the road (less than 10 m). The study was performed in three stages: determination of (a) the best design position of the equipment for different types of vehicles in combination with the effect of speed, (b) the repeatability of results for different operation parameters, and (c) the effectiveness of various dust suppressants. The research was done on test sections of unpaved mining and rural roads with different types of soil and surface conditions. The study indicates that the methodology developed for dust measurement with the Dust Mate equipment may be considered an improvement over the methods currently in use. The measurements are reliable, and the repeatability of the results is better than is required by today's standards.