About Density

The administrative settings and data defined in the Density tab apply to Density Testing and Gauge Standardization.

Settings

The Settings area on the Soil tab is where the client-determined range for Upper and Lower Specified Compaction % is defined.  These values are used in the test calculation to determine if Compaction passes, unless they are overridden by project-specific values in the Project Specifications area.

Test Type

In this section you can activate or deactivate different density Test Types.  For example, if you do not perform Sand Cone testing, you could deactivate this Test Type.

Nuclear Gauges

Nuclear gauges used for field Soil and Bituminous Density Testing are managed using the controls in this tab.

Things to keep in mind as you are entering gauges:

• Each gauge entered must have a unique serial number.
• Rx Density Limit and Rx Moisture Limit are the manufacturer’s recommended standard count limit for the specific gauge – used in the Standardization calculation in MetaField™.
• Deactivating or deleting a gauge removes it from the selection list in the Gauge Standardization area.
• Each gauge must be assigned a Category:  Density or Moisture/Density.  This category will dictate what types of Standard Counts will be required in Field during gauge standardization.

Sand Cones

Sand Cones used for Sand Cone Density Testing are managed using the controls in this tab.

Things to keep in mind as you are entering gauges:

• Each sand cone entered must have a unique name.
• The Bulk Density of Sand entered in Admin can be overridden in Field as necessary.
• Deactivating or deleting a sand cone removes it from the selection list when performing a Sand Cone Test in Field.

Bituminous Material

This is where you define the different types of material on which your organization performs bituminous density testing.  You can define Minimum and Maximum specified compaction at a global level for each material.  These specifications can may be override by project specifications or altered in Field.  You can also identify if a failing bituminous tests will require retesting.

Soil Classification 

Within Soil Classification you can define a Lower and Upper Moisture Tolerance for all soil classifications.  You will also need to add the soil classification Codes used by your organization.  For each soil classification you can further define moisture testing requirements specific to that classification.  

Suppliers

Under Suppliers (withing Density Testing) you can you can add the various bituminous suppliers within your service area.  You also can associate bituminous plants as well as bituminous mix designs with each supplier.  

Things to keep in mind:

• A supplier must exist in the system before a plant or mix design can be added for that supplier.

THIS SECTION NEEDS MORE WORK

Standards

Under Density Testing, you can identify the standard (such as an ASTM or DOT) specific to sampling or testing in field density.  These choices will display in Field, allowing the user to identify the standard that was followed.  

Remarks

Custom remark codes and descriptions can be define for each Density Test Type.  The remark code and description will display on various Density Testing reports.  Remark code A and B are defaulted by the system.  In Field or QC you can override these default values.

Test Administration

The Test Administration area allows you to move Soil Density tests to other projects or delete them. This screen is very wide due to the amount of data shown in the table (similar to the Soil QC table).  Depending on your computer’s screen resolution, some scrolling may be necessary to see everything.

This area should only be used in the rare circumstance that an incorrect test cannot be resolved by users using the controls available in Field and Quality Control.

Common problems addressed are:

• Field user enters a Soil Density test on the wrong project.

• Field user enters an invalid Soil Density test that the project manager wishes to delete.

USCS Exceptions

MetaField™ allows clients to exclude specified soil types from the Moisture test evaluation.  These values are defined within the USCS Exceptions area of the Soil tab.

Exceptions are set up by entering the soil classifications used on Lab Proctor tests. It is extremely important that the exceptions entered use the exact USCS code the lab enters on Proctors.

Based on the soil classification of the Proctor selected for the Field Density test, MetaFieldä determines if only the Density test should be run. 

Common soil types excluded:    SP and SP-SM

Test Administration

1. Enter the project number of the test(s) to be addressed.

2. Select the checkbox of the test(s) you would like to delete or move.

3. Select the appropriate button; Delete, or Move

4. Follow the resulting prompts.

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