A 1.5 km stretch of Lincoln Park road will be used for a unique experiment. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Road Maintenance

R.M. tests out new greener solution to road issues

May 15, 2020 | 8:00 AM

A section of Lincoln Park road and the access road into Aspen Estates are being used as the test sites for a new pilot project by the Rural Municipality of Prince Albert (R.M.).

At their meeting on Thursday, council members passed a resolution to test a new soil stabilization product on its roads. Reeve Eric Schmalz explained one of the perks of the Saskatchewan made product is that it is environmentally friendly.

“We are looking at using it for intersections and areas where wash boarding is a problem,” he said.

Schmalz explained a traffic survey will be done in conjunction with the pilot project to see if the product is a viable option for the R.M.

“From reports we are getting from the company itself, we may not have to touch the roads with a grader unless there is a service failure,” Schmalz said.

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The company which makes the project is Prairie Energy Resources, based out of the Prud’homme area. Owner Mark Hryniuk said the product they use is a vegetable based solution, recycled from the same material used by restaurants.

“We can make asphalt, we can fix the shingles on your roof, we can do all kinds of stuff,” he said.

The company has been around since 2011, but Hryniuk has been running his farm vehicles on vegetable oil as far back as 2006. He explained that after a few years, he started using the material to heat his own shop, as well as his parents’ home, and the hotel in Rosthern.

“It dawned on me one day I could maybe make more products,” he said.

Hryniuk explained the product is applied hot, and due to its low viscosity sinks right into the road surface. Over the next few weeks, as people drive on it, the product gets harder and harder, and eventually starts to turn black, and looks just like pavement.

“[The R.M. was] sending a grader every three days to do [Lincoln Park] road so what this product will do is stop that immediately. The day I’m done spraying is the day they don’t have to go back to that road until maybe next spring,” he explained.

Hryniuk acknowledged his product is not cheap, and costs about 1.6 times more than the traditional application of calcium chloride, but he reiterated that with the calcium chloride, crews have to go back every three days, and then the grader is still needed to get rid of the washboard.

Hryniuk explained another benefit to his product is that it sheds water so during years when there is a lot of rain, his product will not be affected whereas anyone who use the calcium chloride will need to re-apply.

“We’ve had roads, I’ve been told they’ve been sprayed twice in a year and sometimes as many as three times in a year, but with a new product like ours out there, we are going to try to get it down to once a year,” he said.

As Hryniuk mentioned, his business relies on the waste produced from restaurants, which in many cases have been forced to close as a result of COVID-19. Hryniuk said he is anxious for the restrictions to be lifted.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell