Newfoundland and Labrador Stabilized Construction Entrances and Trackout Control
The Environmental Protection Act, the Water Resources Act, and Sediment Control
Newfoundland and Labrador is a land of rugged coastline, salmon rivers, and vast boreal and tundra watersheds, from the Avalon Peninsula and the island's interior to the Churchill River and the iron ore country of Labrador. Construction around St. John's and the province's resource and infrastructure projects often takes place near watercourses and the coast, where sediment control is essential. 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.
Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Regulation
The province regulates construction discharges under the Environmental Protection Act and the Water Resources Act, administered by the Department of Environment and Climate Change, which control the release of pollutants, including sediment, and require authorization for work in or near water bodies. Development in or affecting a water body typically requires a permit that carries erosion and sediment control conditions. Projects also fall under the federal Fisheries Act, so letting construction sediment reach a fish-bearing water, including the province's salmon rivers, can carry federal liability in addition to provincial requirements.
Municipal and Transportation Requirements
Municipalities and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure set erosion and sediment control expectations on their projects. An erosion and sediment control plan identifies the best management practices that will keep sediment out of storm systems and watercourses, and the construction entrance is one of the controls watched most closely, because tracked sediment moves straight from the road into ditches and drains that lead to the province's rivers and coast.
The Aggregate Construction Entrance and Its Limits
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, and the province's wet, cold climate makes it worse. The stone fills with saturated mud, loses its ability to clean tires, and must be topped up or replaced, while 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 sites and one that can leave ice on the road. Each option carries a recurring cost and a maintenance cycle that a durable manufactured entrance can avoid.
FODS as a Compliant Construction Entrance in Newfoundland and Labrador
The province 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 coastal or Labrador 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, and maintenance is a quick pass with a skid steer broom, a powered sweeper, or a FODS shovel. 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 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 sites that drain to the province's rivers or the Atlantic coast, 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
Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Protection Act
Newfoundland and Labrador Water Resources Act
NL Department of Environment and Climate Change