Saskatchewan Stabilized Construction Entrances and Trackout Control
Environmental Management and Protection Act, the Water Security Agency, and Sediment Control
Saskatchewan spans the northern prairies and the boreal forest, drained by the North and South Saskatchewan rivers, the Qu'Appelle, and Lake Diefenbaker, with construction driven by agriculture, potash and uranium mining, oil and gas, and growth around Regina and Saskatoon. Much of that work moves earth on fine prairie soils near rivers and wetlands that supply drinking water and habitat. On all of it, keeping sediment on the job site and off public roads is a core compliance duty, and a stabilized construction entrance is one of the first controls installed and inspected.
Saskatchewan Environmental Regulation
Saskatchewan regulates construction discharges under The Environmental Management and Protection Act, administered by the Ministry of Environment, which prohibits the discharge of substances that may cause an adverse effect on the environment, including sediment carried in stormwater. The Water Security Agency oversees works that affect water bodies and aquatic habitat, and an Aquatic Habitat Protection Permit is required for many activities in or near water. Saskatchewan projects also fall under the federal Fisheries Act, so letting construction sediment reach a fish-bearing water can carry federal liability in addition to provincial requirements.
Municipal and Transportation Requirements
Municipalities and the Ministry of Highways set erosion and sediment control expectations on their projects, and an erosion and sediment control plan is prepared for the site identifying the best management practices that will keep sediment out of the storm system and nearby watercourses. The construction entrance is one of the controls watched most closely, because tracked sediment moves straight from the road into ditches, swales, and storm drains.
The Aggregate Construction Entrance and Its Limits
Saskatchewan guidance describes the traditional construction entrance as a pad of coarse aggregate placed over a geotextile fabric at every site exit, built to knock sediment loose from tires, with runoff directed to a sediment control. The weakness of the aggregate pad is maintenance. As the stone compacts and fills with the fine prairie soils common across the province, it stops cleaning tires and must be topped up with fresh rock, and any material tracked onto the road has to be removed promptly. When the stone pad alone is not enough, a wheel wash sprays tires with pressurized water and drains to a sediment trap, a real burden on remote mining and energy sites where water must be hauled, and one that can leave ice on the road through a Saskatchewan winter. Each option carries a recurring cost and a maintenance cycle that a durable manufactured entrance can avoid.
FODS as a Compliant Construction Entrance in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan evaluates a construction entrance on whether it performs the required function, removing sediment from tires before vehicles reach the road, and the operator specifies the chosen practice in the erosion and sediment control plan. FODS Trackout Control Mats can be named directly in that plan as the site's stabilized construction entrance, satisfying the same purpose as the aggregate pad while removing the loose stone and the heavy maintenance the traditional design depends on.
FODS Trackout Control System
The FODS Trackout Control System is a reusable, manufactured construction entrance made of high-density polyethylene mats with a pyramid-shaped surface that works like the rough edges of crushed stone. As vehicles pass, the pyramids deform the tires and open the tread so sediment breaks loose and collects in the voids between the pyramids, clear of the tires. Each mat measures about 3.7 metres by 2.1 metres, and the modular design lets contractors build the entrance to fit the site. On high-traffic projects the system has reduced street sweeping by 59 percent compared with aggregate.
Because FODS uses no water, there is no wheel-wash supply to haul to remote potash, uranium, or energy sites, and no ice risk in winter, and because it uses no rock, there is no loose aggregate to be tracked onto the road or thrown from dual tires. The mats install over any substrate without excavation and can be relocated quickly as work advances, which suits linear and phased construction. Maintenance is a quick pass with a skid steer broom, a powered sweeper, or a FODS shovel, and with a service life of more than ten years the same mats can be reused across projects, which shifts the cost of a construction entrance from a recurring expense to a one-time investment.
Risks of Vehicle Trackout on Roadways
Safety is a primary concern wherever construction traffic meets a public road. Aggregate exits deposit stone and debris onto pavement, creating hazards for drivers and workers, and loose rock can lodge between dual tires and be thrown at speed. Wheel washes add the burden of supplying and containing water on remote and arid sites and, in cold weather, the risk of ice on the road. FODS uses a rockless, water-free technique to clean tires and does not carry the same risk of injury or liability as aggregate entrances. The mats are durable and reusable across many projects, which reduces the environmental impact tied to aggregate production, hauling, and disposal. On Saskatchewan sites that drain to the North or South Saskatchewan rivers, the Qu'Appelle, or the province's lakes and wetlands, keeping stone and sediment off the road also helps keep it out of the water and out of fish habitat protected under the Fisheries Act.
Additional Resources
Saskatchewan Environmental Management and Protection Act
Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment
Saskatchewan Water Security Agency - Aquatic Habitat Protection