Construction Material Testing

RGE technicians provide testing, observation services, and sampling services for soils, Portland cement concrete, and hot mix asphalt on construction projects. The following list highlights major field construction materials services that are routinely provided by RGE's Construction Materials Engineering group:

Soils - observation for stripping, clearing, and proof-rolling work; in-place nuclear moisture/density tests; observation and testing during caisson and pile installation; pile load tests; testing, observation, and verification for exposed bearing soils

Portland Cement Concrete - on-site observation and testing for air content, slump, unit weight, compressive strength, and temperature; batch plant inspection and testing; core sampling and testing; rebound hammer and Windsor probe testing; locating rebar; precast and/or pre-stressed concrete and reinforcing steel placement

Masonry - ASTM C-780 construction evaluation of mortars; evaluation of compressive strength of prisms and flexural bond strength 

Bituminous (Asphalt) Paving Mixtures - batch plant inspection and testing; field placement observation; in-place nuclear density measurement; core sampling and testing; pavement surveys and evaluation; bituminous mix design

Laboratory - the physical materials testing is equipped to complete the following tests:

Soil index testing, included description of water content, dry unit weight, and unconfined compressive strength of cohesive soils

Illinois Bearing Ratio (IBR), California Bearing Ratio (CBR), Standard/Modified proctors, lime modified IBR, and proctors

Particle size, including sieve analysis and hydrometer testing for fine grained soils

Atterberg limits testing to determine plasticity characteristics

Test for organic content

Strength testing of PCC, grout and mortar from cylinder, cube, beam, and core samples

Asphalt extraction tests