The Importance of soil compaction in the Construction Industry

The Importance of soil compaction in the Construction Industry When a construction project is developed there are various essential issues to consider, one of the most important concerns from the engineering and construction point of view, is the stability of soil. It will definitely determine the structural integrity of the design as well as the building useful life. Stability in this case is directly related to the quality and degree of compaction applied to a soil, therefore, soil compaction is a very important activity to be considered when making plans and activities for construction of buildings, roadways, pavement, walkways or any other construction structure which depends on the firmness of foundations and stability of soil. Special care must me paid to:      

Compaction method and equipment required.

Soil test procedure.

Quality control procedure.

Measurement instruments to be used.

Soil type.

Required soil density or degree of compaction that must be achieved.

As it has been indicated, soil compaction is critical for any construction project and this is achieved by applying weight or stress to the soil, which contains water and air, to the point in which air is removed but not affecting significantly the amount of water contained in the soil. As a result, density of material is increased as well as greater resistance and stability is obtained.

Soils are commonly divided into two main cathegories: cohesive and non cohesive soils, therefore, the method used for soil compaction is different from each other depending on the type of soil. In the case of cohesive soils, particles bond one to another, which does not happen if the soil is non cohesive. However, no matter the type, inappropriate

application of soil compaction can lead to unstability of soil and subsequent construction problems and failures caused by the movement of soil and the absortion of water beneath the building or road, like fractures and cracks in structures and pavement, as well as unsafe holes in roadways.

Heavy equipment is used for soil compaction. In the case of sands and gravels, vibrating equipment is utilized in order to obtaing higher density by re-accommodation of soil particles. Sheepsfoot rollers are frequently used for silts and clays, removing air by creating a small zone of intense shearing.

The quality of soil compaction is determined by the density and moisture content of material. Continuous monitoring of these two parameters during the process is critical to achieve its desired degree of stability. Nowdays, due to the science advances and the incorporation of the use of nuclear energy in the construction industry, density measurement and moisture content determination can be made very easily through the use of state of the art instruments, created to do this quality control work in a much more practical and simple way compared to traditional methods.

The Nuclear density gauge is a modern tool used widely in the construction and petroleum industry as well as in mining and archeology. It consists of a radioactive source that emits a cloud of particles and a receiver that counts the particles that are either reflected by the material being tested or pass through it. Nuclear density gauge, Humboldt Repair can thus be calibrated to measure the density of the test material and the inner structure, by calculating the percentage of particles that return to the sensor, determined by the absortion level of material which at the same time is a measure of its density.

Nuclear density gauge calibration, maintenance and opportune repair are crucial and important to guarantee a reliable and safe operation in the use of this equipment.

Phoenix Calibration offers specialized and certified services of calibration, maintenance and repair of your nuclear density gauges of all models, including: Troxler, InstroTek, CPN, and Humboldt.