Framework of Non-Nuclear Methods Evaluation for Soil QC and QA in Highway Pavement Construction

Abstract

This study introduces a methodology to evaluate different types of non-nuclear technologies to see how they are competitive to the nuclear technology for quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) in soil condition measurement for highway pavement construction. The non-nuclear methods including the Electrical Density Gauge (EDG) and the Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD) were tested for their performance against a nuclear gauge, and traditional methods were used as baselines. An innovative way of comparing a deflection gauge to a density gauge was introduced. Results showed that the nuclear gauge generally outperformed the non-nuclear gauge in accuracies of soil density and moisture content measurements. Finally, a framework was developed as a guideline for evaluating various types of non-nuclear soil gauges. From other perspectives rather than accuracy, it was concluded that the non-nuclear gauges would be better alternative to the nuclear gauge when the followings are considered: (1) greater life-cycle cost savings; (2) elimination of intense federal regulations and safety/security concerns; and (3) elimination of licensing and intense training.