Jacko Lake Access Road

A contractor was tasked with constructing a high performance access road for an operation working in the oil/gas industry. The road needed to support heavy traffic, including 30-ton articulating haul trucks, concrete trucks and tractor trailers. The owner required minimal service interruption over a 2 year period. The contractor was also required to remove the access road once construction was complete. Onsite soils were moisture sensitive (silt or silty sand with some clay) and would quickly lose strength once wet, rut and become difficult to traverse even for light vehicles. In addition, the cost of gravel was high, and the contractor needed to reduce the required amount.

The local Tensar representative met onsite and performed dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) testing to determine the in-place strength of the soil. This data was then used to provide recommendations for the structural design of the road. A comparison was made showing conventional designs with various geogrid-stabilized sections. The InterAx geogrid design provided the lowest upfront cost of construction, reduced the construction schedule and CO2. In addition, this solution benefitted the contractor by reducing risk of project delays due to road closure/restrictions and service disruptions during wet seasons. This will also reduce time and cost for future reclamation.