hello,
we had looked into a similiar product at the airport where I work. It was some sort of fiber type product that looked like chopped up chicken wire to me that you mixed with a specific type of sand, compacted, and did in layers. We ordered a video and they showed a fire ladder truck drive across it, put down it stabilizers, extend its latter, then drive away. Only a few spots we indented from the stabilizers, no tracks though. We have some areas on the sides of taxiways, ramps, etc. where aircraft occasionally runoff into our wet 'swampy' grounds and get stuck, and thought of it for that.
We also comtemplated the idea of doing our airport entrance road shoulders with the product, being as we do not have curbs and it seems like every other day I am out there fixing 'ruts' from crazy fuel truck drivers, run-away taxi cab drivers, and the infamous 'Overnite' tractor trailer driver.
It is very expensive though. we tried to price it out and it came in at well over 10/sq ft. to install. For that price, we could install curbing, widen the road, even install a paver boarder on our roads. Very intricate install, having to get a specific grade sand, having to have the ability to mix up the 'soup' mix of sand/fibers, and then the fact that they want you to use bare root sod on top of it. I don't even know where I would find bare root sod.
I think this is one of those 'big' buck municipal type ideas that only our hard earned tax dollars will be spent on when some engineer decides to throw it into the specs of some road project. Then again, that's kind of explains how we like to spend money at the airport, so who knows, maybe I'll be telling all of you next year how the stuff works......
steveair
[Edited by steveair on 09-23-2000 at 12:17 AM]