Dust suppression program rolls on
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East Gippsland Shire Council is continuing its work to minimise dust created by traffic on urban streets and rural roads.
The Dust Suppression Program converts a gravel road into a one-coat bitumen sealed road.
The budget for the 2018-19 program is $200,000.
Acting Director Operations Mark Burnett said this bitumen coating is known as a primer seal.
“Applying a primer seal reduces dust and can reduce the need for maintenance works,” Mr Burnett said.
“Once the seal is applied, this coating should last between two to six years.
"However, council is currently applying heavy primer seals and will monitor the results to see if this seal has a longer lifespan.
“Our dust suppression program is an ongoing program with works conducted throughout the year,” Mr Burnett said.
A road treated with a one-coat bitumen seal is not the same as road sealing works.
“Laying the primer seal is only the first step in creating a sealed road.
"Six months after applying the primer seal, a final seal is applied which extends the lifespan of the road surface to 10 to 20 years or more,” Mr Burnett said.
To determine which roads will be part of each year’s dust suppression program, roads are prioritised by a number of factors including:
the number of houses on the road; truck and bus use; road alignment; and drainage.Council maintains approximately 2900 km of roads.