A 4-wheel-drive vehicle getting bogged down during the wet season in the highlands where there are no tar-sealed roads.
THE start to a new decade is just round the corner and for many, it’s a time to set new goals and think up ways to improve their life.
Some might consider renovating their homes to provide more space, getting a bigger car for a growing family or even starting a home business to supplement their income.
For all these to happen, there must be a pathway leading to the goal — but all the better, if there are roads.
To city dwellers, a road may not seem like something extraordinary, being used to having roads to go to wherever they want.
But the same cannot be said of people living in the rural areas or deep in the jungle, accessible only by logging roads which can get really muddy after rain, putting travellers in a miry spot, wondering how to get help to yank their vehicles out of a marshy bog.
Not only that, the time taken to travel is also longer as the dirt road is uneven and may become slippery during the Monsoon.
Knowing the hardships of living without the bare amenities such as roads in the remote areas, entrepreneur Zainon Tumboh who was raised in Kampung Rejang, Tanjung Manis, wants to make a difference for those still making do without proper roads.
“When I was growing up, we had no roads in our village. We had a clinic and a school but no secondary school. We had to use the express boat to go to SMK Sarikei. That’s why I’ve been searching for a way to make the dream of having proper roads come true for the rural folks.”
She recalled it was tough growing up in a roadless environment, querying: “What more to say of those living in the interior where the nearest clinic or hospital is days away?”
She also wondered how they could cope with an emergency or even simple things such as registering births and getting MyKads?
“Not only that, children as young as seven have to leave their family and live in boarding schools as there are no schools in their village,” she noted.
The road condition in Kota Samarahan before using Claycrete.
New technology
Zainon said when she met Brian Jackman, owner of the trademark Claycrete, a soil stabiliser, she was interested in how to bring in the technology “to build roads for fellow Sarawakians.”
In Jan 2017, the road-building, using Claycrete, started with a trial over a 200m stretch along Jalan Koperasi Permodalan Felda in Kota Samarahan.
The second project was carried out with the Malaysian Rubber Board in Sungai Kerawai, Perak, where the road was built using Claycrete as the base, and rubber cup lumps instead of asphaltic concrete wearing (ACW) to give tyres a better grip of the road and also help with the braking system, making the road safer.
“But this was just a trial as it would be costly to use this method for all the roads in the country. That’s another story for another day,” she laughed.
The company, Claycrete Global, a joint venture between Zainon and Jackman, got the project to lay the 8.5km Jalan Ensengei Baki, Kota Samarahan. It’s currently their longest road project.
Claycrete technology proved to be very practical and useful and also suitable to local conditions after two years, giving Zainon the confidence to approach the government and the local authority, hoping it would be used to solve the ‘road woes’ of the rural folks.
She and her team have been traversing the country to introduce Claycrete.
“We’ve met with JKR (Public Works Department) and they were impressed. Claycrete made the APL (Approved Product List) officially on Dec 16 for building roads throughout Malaysia,” she said.
Zainon is proud of the recognition – a Sarawak company given approval by the government.
Zainon (right) speaking to visitors during an exhibition at Hari Profession Teknikal Negara 2019 in Kuala Lumpur.
What is Claycrete
According to her, Claycrete is a liquid chemical additive that reacts with only the clay fraction in the soil.
This eliminates the need to have additional materials for the road base as it’s used in-situ (where the road needs to be built).
Long after the product has biodegraded, the clay will remain in its stabilised state. The clay’s improved properties make it suitable for use in high portions of road materials.
This means it’s environment-friendly and cost-effective, reducing the price by about 25-30 per cent. Using Claycrete also reduces the amount of quarry-processed stones for road-building.
The next generation of pavement designs will be more reliant on naturally available materials. It changes the properties of the clay to concrete, hence the name Claycrete.
“It’s very hard — you can use a steel bar to hit the treated soil and you’ll hear the same sound of hitting a cement wall,” Zainon said.
Citing the 8.5km Jalan Ensengei Baki, she said the conventional method would take six months or more but with Claycrete, it only took 11 days for the foundation of road to stabilise.
It’s two months for chip-sealed road and 45 days or less for asphalt.
Zainon (front left) inspecting a newly-completed road.
Demand for stones
With the current construction of the Pan Borneo Highway, the demand for stones has increased but quarry outputs remain the same due to adherence to strict production capacity.
Mining will result in environmental hazards and affect the Environment Impact Assessment, required by the Environment Department.
“The ensuing environmental pollution will entail a hefty fine in line with government’s stand to curb environmental pollution,” Zaiton said.
The almost completed road using Claycrete.
For rural roads, the further they are, the higher the costs due to logistics and transportation of stones.
“For example, the ex-quarry price is RM27 per ton. But in Sarikei, it will go up to RM55 per ton. This isn’t just the cost of stones itself but also includes logistics.
“For places without roads such as in the rural areas of Sarikei, Kapit and Kanowit, a barge will be rented to transport the stones, jacking up the price, not to mention the cost of building a temporary jetty for the crane to move the stones to the riverbank.”
“But with Claycrete, only 30 to 40 per cent of stones is needed, hence cutting the costs of not only stones and logistics but also transportation and manpower.
“This means the money allocated can be used to build more roads,” she said.
In terms of strength, she pointed out that the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is higher compared to the conventional method and the CBR reading is mostly above 120mm CBR.
The CBR is a simple strength test that compares the bearing capacity of a material with that of a well-graded crushed stone. So a high quality crushed stone material should have a CBR at 100 per cent.
She added that the Clegg Hammer reading result was confirmed and certified by Geo Spec Testing Lab as a third party.
The Clegg Hammer is a device that gives readings of impact value (IV), CBR and Elastic Modulus.
On how Claycrete is used, Zainon said the liquid chemical is mixed with water and spread on the mixed soil and stones.
“It alters the clay particles on a molecular level, permanently changing the clay into an environment-friendly binder of sold materials which no longer attract water.
“Many types of soil available throughout the world are high in clay content and typically not considered suitable for road construction. This is because clay is prone to swell and shrink based on the absence of water.”
On upcoming projects, she said there was a trial-based 0.38km road with JKR Sarikei in Pakan which would start after the wet season.
She is grateful the government is starting to trust Claycrete by using this new technology to help provide basic amenities such as roads.
She believes as long as there are roads, people will be connected.
“There will be electricity and Internet at every nook and cranny of the state.
“This will help empower the rural folks with digital technology in line with Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s vision for development in Sarawak via digital economy.”
Zainon hoped Claycrete would be widely used to build roads in Sarawak to give especially the people in the rural areas better access to education, health and job opportunities.
Claycrete Global has only one product but it’s the one and only in Malaysia.
Zainon said quality is assured as Claycrete is used in some 39 countries, including Australia, the US, Canada, Mexico, Mozambique, Angola, Myanmar, Indonesia and Africa.