Compaction/Moisture Testing

We are making some progress, the paving contractor finally has their "engineer" back on site to do some compaction testing. This is good as we have built much of the road on existing road bed that has been compacted over the years by heavy military vehicles, so we haven't needed much for testing, which is good since they have not done any. The road they are working on now is on new alignment and has not been driven on, so we wanted to get some compaction testing done before they started to pave.

The pictures above show how they use the same methods we do, maybe just a little dated compared to what we use today. The picture with no one in it is the sand cone device that is used to determine the compaction/density of the in place material. In the other two pictures the engineer, one with the beard, is conducting a test to determine the moisture content of the material. This was a test of my education/memory as we had one class/lab on soil testing and it was probably 26 years ago. I had to do some searching on the internet to determine if they conducted the test correctly. For the most part, the tests were good and the results indicate that the old method still works. They achieved the required compaction and it was done by the supervisor walking the grade telling the roller operator where they needed more compaction.

On another note, Mike the contractor stopped in today and one of the guys in the office asked him about his family. He has one wife and one daughter, we then asked how many children he wanted, his answer, 14 or 15 (he has a cousin with 28 kids). I asked him how old he is, he is 25 (he had to think about that one). We've noticed they don't really track their age very closely, it's a ball park figure. I'll have to adopt that practice as I get up in years, +/- 10 years, but I will error on the minus side.

I told Mike he's going to have to get busy to attain his children goal. He said he will be looking for a second and third wife (not uncommon in this country, his cousin has three). He better also look for a second or third job as well. He's always the business man, looking for new ways to earn a living, he not only has to support his wife(s) and children, but he is the provider for all of his family, parents and siblings, and their children. Some of his siblings work for his contracting business. He has accomplished a lot and is a very confident businessman for only 25 years of life.