Tucking In The Clay FTLComm - Tisdale October 26, 1999 Seeing a neatly laid blanket late yesterday afternoon at the construction site of the new Coop Cardlock stopped me in my tracks. I had seen something like this at a highway construction project near Roblin and here was the

same method being used here. I talked with the people working on this site and it was explained to me that using this material established a barrier between the pervasive Tisdale clay and the gravel fill that was being installed on top of it to produce a solid roadway. It seems that clay when overlaid with gravel will work its way upward reducing the ability of the granular nature of the gravel to absorb and drain away moisture. The clay clogs this process up and the roadway becomes wet, then soft then breaks up. This barrier saves a lot a money by keeping the roadway and the underlying clay base separated and the surface will continue to hold heavy loads without degrading. All of the UGG railway, roadways and construction site was prepared in this manner and most construction projects in the Tisdale area are now using this system to insure stable surfaces in the years to come despite what ever ground water conditions exist.

This three picture composite shows the extensive upgrading the card lock site has undergone as the level of the East roadway to the bowser site (centre) is more then four feet above its original ground level. A concrete pad will be installed at the bowser area and where the fill is being laid over the matting will one day become the sites automotive fuel centre, however in the immediate plans this part of the project will not be implemented as the focus is on getting the card lock operational.