In the harsh inaccessible interior of Tanzania the loose gravel on Barrick Gold’s Buzwagi mine airstrip posed a threat to the aircraft servicing the mines operations. Aircraft are of vital importance to this remote mining operation in bringing in both equipment and personnel at short notice and potential damage to these aircraft caused by the hazardous runway conditions and FOD foreign object debris had to be eliminated.
Soil Solutions was requested by Barrick Gold to perform a site assessment of the abovementioned airstrip.
Problems encountered were loss of fine materials and loose gravel, which made foreign object debris (FOD) difficult to see. These hazardous conditions made it extremely dangerous for an emergency reverse thrust and to compound matters the runway was also slippery when wet!
Having completed an in-depth analysis of the existing soil and surface conditions, Soil Solutions concluded the best solution for the runway was to apply a surface seal using EBS® nano technology binding agent. To prove the capabilities of EBS® beyond a doubt a selected test area was demarked and compacted following which EBS was manually applied.
The first plane to land on the EBS® treated section of the runway was a DC-3 Dash- no dust was visible and the DC-3’s tire marks were obvious on the untreated part leaving the pilots not only grateful but impressed as well- This resulted in Soil Solutions being granted the order for the upgrade of the entire 2km Kahama Airstrip.
The end result after being treated with EBS® was a runway, which became safe for an emergency reverse thrust, increased visibility on approach, reduced rolling resistance and improved skid resistance. Aircraft acceleration was improved, FOD was easily visible and the runway was not only dust free but no more slippery when wet resulting in zero damage to planes landing and taking off, Value …Delivered™ by Soil Solutions.
