WATER CONTENT OF FRESH CONCRETE MEASURED BY NEUTRON RADIATION

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

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1972/412/412-004.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309020840
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Nuclear Principles and Applications. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Lepper Jr, Henry A
  • Rodgers, R B
  • Chamberlain, D E
• Conference:
  • 51st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1972-1-17 to 1972-1-21
• Publication Date: 1972

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 25-34
• Monograph Title: Nuclear applications, pipe corrosion and aggregate and glass bead testing
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 412
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Concrete; Moisture content; Neutrons; Nondestructive tests; Nuclear radiation; Nuclear tests; Sensors
• Old TRIS Terms: Concrete composition; Nuclear testing; Radiation counters /sensors/
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00214204
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309020840
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 17 1973 12:00AM