CHAPTER 5 ESTABLISHING THEORETICAL / TARGET VALUES …

← Back to document page

5-12012 5 ESTABLISHING THEORETICAL / TARGET VALUES FOR DENSITY & MOISTURE CONTENTIntroduction When soil is being placed as fill material it must be put down in layers called lifts and compacted with some form of compaction equipment before the next lift is placed. Specifications for this work are given in the Virginia Department of Transportation s Road and Bridge Specifications, Section (h), Sec. (a) 1 and are summarized in Appendices B and C of this Study Guide. Generally the specifications call for the soil to be compacted to a minimum of 95% of THEORETICAL maximum density at 20% of THEORETICAL optimum moisture. These THEORETICAL VALUES are refered to as the test targets . Refer to the flow chart below to see the overall procedure for determining if fill material meets the specifications. First the TARGET VALUES for density and moisture content must be determined. This CHAPTER will discuss the various methods for determining the TARGET VALUES in soil.

It is sometimes referred to as the standard proctor or the modi fi ed proctor test. A quantity of soil or soil and aggregate mixture is prepared at a determinable moisture content and compacted in a standard mold using a manual or mechanical rammer.

  Tests, Standards, Chapter, Value, Theoretical, Targets, Establishing, Proctor, Standard proctor, Proctor test, Chapter 5 establishing theoretical target values