CLIMATE CHANGE AND WINTER ROAD!
Due to severe climate conditions available in Canada… Winter roads are failing across the nation
Winter roads are unpredictable due to sporadic changes in weather and higher temperatures due to climate changes – snowfall often can come
in late fall now before the ground is properly frozen, and acts as an insulator not properly freezing the muskeg. The road matting solution can be used over a long period of time with heavy loads exceeding 100+ tons per vehicle. Aggregate road systems in the higher ground “eskers” will be able to create a 12 month all-season road system. By integrating our floating mat road technology over muskeg, peatlands, and unstable permafrost we can come in at a cost per kilometer less than the current per kilometer benchmark – this will vary per geographic location. (*whereas the costs in the North can be much higher and vary from region-to-region).
Mats provide a load distribution mechanism that effectively reduces the formation of ruts; thereby minimizing associated negative impacts on the local environment.
D.Blizzard focus on the MATTING BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs) to reduce even more the ecological impact and obtain substantial benefits for these clients:
- Extend the seasons that access can be gained to work areas.
- Reduce soil impact and water quality run-off issues.
- Enable equipment to haul heavier loads.
- Lower equipment maintenance costs.
- Reduce travel and construction time.
- Protect water quality during operations.
- Minimize the transport of invasive species.
- Reduce impact on “sensitive receptors and resources” such as recreation areas ,agricultural lands, pipeline crossing, etc.
In Canada with the new modernized environmental act reforms due to the new carbon emission targets, provinces are passing “No net loss” protection of wetlands also because wetlands trap carbon, they need to conserve and to protect the wetlands in order to meet the carbon emissions targets. If you destroy a wetland here in Quebec you pay a minimum of $25m2, and, up to $100m2 depending on the size and total value of the wetland.
With climate change and increases in temperatures in the winter and increase freeze-thaw cycles winter-ice roads are becoming a very high risk for means of access and lives are literally in danger these days on winter ice roads in Canada and this is starting to be widely recognized almost to the degree of emergency measures.
Industrial mat road applications are designed to be low impact access systems over wetlands, peatlands, etc., but also are designed to increase the load-bearing on these road systems for industrial-sized heavy equipment like cranes, large excavators, etc., so that they can do there work in a safe manner and not impact the wetlands, muskeg, and peatlands below while they do there work.