Determination of correlation between nuclear moisture/density tests and standard tests on certain gravel bases in southern Arkansas. Final report

The nuclear method presented inconsistent results when applied to density and moisture of a gravel base material in the Southwest, AR, Nashville area. Nuclear wet densities were lower (4-18 pcf) than the sand cone wet densities. Nuclear moistures appeared to be higher than the oven dry moisture. A correlation study between laboratory nuclear and actual results showed (1) that the correlation nuclear-actual wet density is linear and the difference between them increases as wet density increases; (2) that nuclear moisture can be lower as well as higher than the oven dry moisture and the correlation between them is linear also; (3) that nuclear-actual dry density correlate very poorly. It is the objective of the study to propose a simple procedure for calibration of the nuclear gage for soils that show soil composition error