PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF THE AREA CONCEPT TO COMPACTION CONTROL USING NUCLEAR GAGES

THE RATE OF PLACEMENT OF EARTHWORK IN HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION HAS GREATLY EXPANDED SINCE WORLD WAR II; HOWEVER, THE ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF THIS EARTHWORK COMPACTION HAS BEEN BASED ON PREWAR METHODS THAT ARE GEARED TO LOWER PRODUCTION RATES. THE CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS HAS BEEN DEVELOPING A NEW TEST METHOD FOR ACCEPTING OR REJECTING EARTHWORK COMPACTION. THIS METHOD HAS THREE IMPORTANT FACETS: /1/ A MODIFIED STATISTICAL APPROACH, /2/ THE USE OF NUCLEAR SOIL GAGES, AND /3/ AN AREA CONCEPT. THE STATISTICAL APPROACH CONSISTS OF OBTAINING SEVERAL IN PLACE DENSITIES OF THE COMPACTED EARTHWORK IN AN AREA TO BE TESTED. THE ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION IS BASED ON THE AVERAGE RELATIVE COMPACTION AND THE PERCENTAGE FALLING BELOW THE REQUIRED RELATIVE COMPACTION VALUE. THE TEST SITES ARE SOMEWHAT RANDOMLY SELECTED IN AN AREA READY FOR TESTING. THE AREA IS PASSED OR FAILED ACCORDING TO THE TEST RESULTS. THE DENSITY OF THE COMPACTED MATERIAL IS DETERMINED BY USE OF NUCLEAR SOIL MOISTURE AND DENSITY GAGES. THIS NEW TEST METHOD WAS USED EXPERIMENTALLY ON A PROJECT DURING 1964 AND THE RESULTS WERE SATISFACTORY. AFTER SOME MODIFICATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURE IT WAS USED ON SEVERAL PROJECTS IN THE 1965 AND 1966 CONSTRUCTION SEASONS. THIS COMPACTION CONTROL CONCEPT WAS SUCCESSFUL FROM BOTH THE STATE AND CONTRACTORS POINTS OF VIEW. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1967/177/177-010.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Construction Practices--Earthwork and presented at the 46th Annual Meeting. 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:
  • Weber, W G
  • Smith, T W
• Publication Date: 1967

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 144-156
• Monograph Title: Symposium on Compaction of Earthwork and Granular Bases
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 177
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: In place density; Measuring instruments; Nuclear tests; Road construction; Soil compaction; Statistical analysis; Test procedures
• Old TRIS Terms: Nuclear moisture-density determination
• Subject Areas: Construction; Data and Information Technology; Geotechnology; Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00214675
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 20 1994 12:00AM