Free Essay Example. Sand Cone Method

The degree of compaction in the soil can be determined by its unit weight while dry (Das et al. 2016). Construction engineers must prioritize the safety of everyone. They achieve these by ensuring that soil dug up for use in a construction site has a lower dry unit weight after compaction to avoid compromising the integrity of the soil structure. According to Das et al. (2016), the sand cone method determines the field weight unit of compaction. The technique is mainly applied in the construction industry, where engineers must test the soil before compacting it. The sand cone method can help save money and time because it can help determine the equipment to be used for soil compacting. Pneumatic rubber-tired rollers and smooth wheel rollers are examples of equipment used to compact the soil. Significant parameters that help determine soil compaction include the moist unit weight of soil, dry unit weight of soil, and moisture content in the field (Das et al. 2016). Engineers who relate fieldwork with real-world problems such as climate change and urban life challenges can increase their level of experience and concentration in their line of work.

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Procedures

The following procedure shows how sand cone method is used to determine the field unit weight of compaction. First, determine the weight of the proctor compaction mold, fill the cavity with 20-30 Ottawa sand, then determine the importance of the sand and the frame. The following procedure is applied to determine the weight of the Ottawa sand. First, finding the importance of the apparatus by using Ottawa sand to fill the one-gallon bottle attached to a cone close the valve (Das et al. 2016). Take the container and the cone, place them on a base plate and turn both the bottle and cone apparatus upside down. Position the mouth of the funnel in the center of the base plate. Fill the cone with sand and open the closed valve. The sand will stop flowing once it is filled. Close it and determine the weight of the apparatus.

The following procedure is used to weigh the apparatus after calibration for the field portion experiment. Take to the field, digging tools, the bottle, plastic bowl, cone and sand apparatus. Dig a small hole, and place the base plate down onto the soil. The hole should be lower than the sand minus the volume of the cone, Das et al. (2016). Ensure the perimeter of the hole dug is similar to that of the base plate. Take out the loose soil, place it in the plastic bowl and weigh the plastic owl. Fill the cone apparatus with sand and position it in the centre of the base place facing down. Open the valve of the cone, and close it once the sand stops flowing. Remove the sand from the hole and place it in the tin bim to avoid damaging the NJIT property and for proper disposal (Das et al. 2016). After using the filed, Weigh the bottle, cone and sand while in the lab. Put the moist soil in the moisture cans, weigh and place them in the oven. Remove the cap and consider the boxes after 72 hours.

Discussion

The steps of the experiment make the Sand Cone Method, subject to improvement. However, the procedures are very delicate to mistakes. Sources of errors include failure to clean the proctor mold before calibration, which results in inaccuracy and wrong results. Human errors, such as inaccurate readings, affects all the parameters to be calculated in the experiment including moisture content in the field, volume of the hole and the dry unit weight of the soil in the area. Vibrating the proctor with sand in it is another standard error that can lead to inaccurate measurement of the dry unit weight of the sand. Erroneous reading of the electronic analytical balance is another source of error.

In the above experiment, three moisture cans were used instead of a one-gallon bottle for the lab test portion. Another change is weighing the dry sample after 72 hours instead of 24 hours (Das et al. 2016). These alterations make it difficult to achieve the entire weight of the soil in the field. Instead, three moisture cans have been used as representations of the soil.

Rubber ballon ASTM D-2167 and nuclear density water method is another method used to find the weight of compaction of the soil. The process is cheap and expensive at the same time. According to Das et al. (2016), the nuclear way is the most costly because the nuclear density meter must be inserted in a drilled hole. Unlike Sand cone method where the hole is dug manually, in a drilled hole, expensive machines are used to drill the holes. Das et al. (2016), states that the instrument measures the weight of the water in the soil volume and weight of the wet soil per unit volume. Subtracting one from the other gives the dry unit weight of the ground compacted. The soil outside the parking lot is classified as loose soil due to its dry unit weight and the moist unit weight of the earth. Mixing organic matter with mineral soil materials influences its moisture-holding capacity. The relevance of this information is to note the difference because the soil collected from the field has organic matter.

References

Das, C. E., Ovid, B. C., & Marshall, L. E. (2016). The Effect of Dry Unit Weight in Hydrodynamic Dispersion of Clayey Soils. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 6(7), 1571-1574. doi: 10.21275/art20175671