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Komitee van
. Staatspadowerhede
Committee of
State Road Authorities
.. DRAFT TMH 6 : 1984
SPECIAL
METHODS
FOR
TESTING ROADS
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TECHNICAL METHODS
FOR HIGHWAYS
Draft TMH6 special
methods
for
o testing roads
1984
ISBN 0 7988 2289 9
Draft THM6. pp 1-60. Pretoria, South Africa, 1984
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Published by
The Department of Transport
PO Box 415
PRETORiA
0001
Republic of South Africa
for the
Committee of Slate Road Authorities
PRiNTED 1984
REPRINTED 1992
REPRINTED 1993
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Special methOds
Draft TMH6. Pretona. South Afrtea. 1964
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PREfACE
TECHNICAL METHODS FOR HIGHWAYS (TMH) is a series complementing the TECH
NICAl RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HIGHWAYS (TRH) series. The TRHs are intended
as guides for the practi sing engineer and leave room for engineering judgement to be
used. The TMHs are more in the nature of manuals for engineers, prescribing methods
to be used in various road design and construction procedures. It is hoped that these
manuals will produce uniform results throughout the country.
This TMH was prepared by the Materials Testing Subcommittee of the Highway Maleri-
als Committee, which is in tum a subcommittee of the Committee of State Road u t h ~
orities (CSRA).
To confirm the validity of these methods in practice .this TMH will be circulated in draft
form for a period of trial before being submitted to the CSRA for final approval. During
this period users are welcome to send suggestions for improvement to: The Chief Direc-
tor, National Institute for Transport and Road Research, POBox 395, Pretoria. 0001 .
Eventually a revised manual, approved by the CSRA, will be issued as a full TMH in
both official languages.
Special methods
Draft TMH6, Pretoria. South Africa. 1984
iii
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SYNOPSIS
Draft TMH6 contains a selection of the non-standard test methods most often used by
road authorities and private consulting engineering or contracting firms for doing special
tests on roads. It was felt that there was a need in the road industry for standardized
procedures even for these special tests. Road surface tests include those on the texture
depth, skid resistance and longitudinal regularity, and road materials tests cover, for e ) ~
ample, measurement of the in situ strength of soils by means Of the Dynamic Cone Pen-
etrometer (DCP) . and use of the vane shear apparatus for the deSign of a sand asphalt
mix.
SINOPSIS
Konsep-TMH6 bevat 'n versameling van die nie-standaard toetsmetodes wat mees
dikwels deuf padowerhede en privaat kontrakterende of raadgewende ingenieursfirmas
gebruik word am spesiale toetse op paaie uil te voer. Daar is gevoel dat daar 'n be-
hoefte in die padbedryf bestaan vir gestandaardiseerde metodes, selfs vir hierdie spe-
stale toetse. Padopperv!aktoetse sluit die in oar die tekstuurdiepte, glyweerstand en oor-
langse reelmaligheid, en padmateriaaltoetse dek byvoorbeeld die meting van die in situ-
sterkte van grondsoorte met die Dinamiese Keelpenetrometer (DKP), en die gebruik van
die wiekskuifapparaat vir die ontwerp van 'n sandasfaltmengsel.
KEYWORDS
air permeability. consolidation, deflection, methods, road construction, road materials.
road surface, skid resistance, soil strength, surface treatment, texture depth
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Special methods
Draft TMH6. Pretoria. South Africa. 1984
Preface
Synopsis
METHOD
ST1
8T2
ST3
5T4
ST6
ST7
ST8
8T9
ST10
SpecIal methods
CONTENTS
Measurement of the texture depth of a road surface ...... ......... ....... . .
Measurement of the skid resistance of a road surface by means of
a portable pendulum skid resistance tester ........................... ......... ..
Determination of the longitudinal regularity of a road surface by
means of a rolling ........... ........................................... .
The ball penetration test for surface treatment design ......... ........... .
Measurement of the in situ strength of soils by the Dynamic Cone
Penet rometer (DCP) ... .... ............ .......................................... ... ..... .
Use of the vane shear apparatus to design a sand asphalt mix
Determination of the nomina! depth of layers. by means of short-
range seismic I/olaves, for subsurface investigations ...................... .. .
Measurement of the deflectIon and radius of curvature of a road
pavement ................................. .. ..................................................... .
Determination of the one-dimensional consolidation properties of
soils .. .... ...... .. .................................................................................. ..
Draft TMH6. Pretoria. South Africa, 1984
Page
iii
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5
11
15
19
25
33
37
51
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figure No.
STIli
5T2I1
5T2I11
ST2/1ll
ST2IIV
ST2N
5T3/1
5T4/1
ST6I1
ST7/1
ST7/11
ST7I111
ST8/1
ST911
5T9/11
ST91l11
ST9/IV
5T10/1
8T101l1
5T101l11
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LIST OF FIGURES
Sand spreading box .................. .......... ........ .... , .. .. ..... .. ................... ..
British Portable Tester ....................................................... ,. ............ .
Schematic drawing of pendulum showing spring and lever arrange
ment ......... ... ........................... ..... .......... ........... ... .. ....... .. ... .. .. .......... .
Slider assembly illustrating maximum wear on the striking edge .... ..
Arrangement of the British Portable Tester showing pendulum as-
sembly and pan balance used to measure slider load ................. .... .
Pendulum assembly showing location on the point 9f balance ...... ..
Calibration of rolling straight -edge ... .................. .... .... ... ................. ..
Page
3
8
9
9
10
10
13
Two views of the apparatus for the ball penetration test ............. ...... 17
The Dynamic Cone Penetrometer ............... .. .... ......... ................. ..... 22
Vane shear apparatus .... ........... ...... .... .... .... .... .............. ... ........ . ....... 30
Torque versus vane shear strength for standard vane size . ...... ........ 31
Typical chart to convert shear strength at test temperature (T 0c) to
equivalent shear strength at 40C ........... ........................ .... ........ ..... 32
Plot of seismiC data .. .... .......... ..................... ......... ......... .......... .... ..... 36
A deflection beam .... .............. .............. ..... ............... ... ............ ......... 44
Device for calibrating a deflection beam ..... ...... ............... ... .... ......... 44
A curvature meter .. .......... ................. .... ......... ..... ...... ...... .............. .... 45
Marking of testing layout .......... .............. ....... ..... ................. .... ......... 46
DiagrammatiC illustration of a typical consolidation cell ........ ... ........ 58
Square-root-of-time fitting method .......... .................. ...................... 59
fitting method ....... ........................ ................. ............... 60

Draft 'TMH6. PretorIa. South Mica. 1964
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Form No.
5T6/1
ST6/2
8T9/1
5T9/2
5T9/3
Special mtlthods
LIST OF FORMS
DCP penetration depths versus number of blows ........................... .
DCP layer-strength diagram ............ ...................... .......................... .
Deflection measurements ................ .. ...... " ..................................... .
Curvature meter measurements ........................ " ............ ................ .
Benkelmann Beam measurements ............ ...... .. ............................. .
Draft TMHe. Pretoria, South Africa, 1984
Page
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48
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Special methods
Craft TMH6. Pretoria. South Africa. 1984