Rainfall patterns and the acceptability of soils for earthworking

During earthworking on roadworks, the use of high quality imported fills is expensive. In cases where thousands of cubic metres of fill are required, the costs can be vast. It follows then, that it is economically advantageous to make maximum use of the materials occurring on site and keep imported fill requirements to a minimum. However, this will only be possible if the excavated (on site) material is in an acceptable state.

A system has been developed to help improve the methods and procedures for the planning and cost control of earthworking on trunk road contracts in Scotland. This has been achieved by the development of a computer-based system for forecasting the acceptability of soils for earthworking, from ground and meterological data. The system advises on the best times of the year for earthworking at particular geographical locations, in terms of the likelihood of soils being excavated in an acceptable state. Additionally, the system advises on the likelihood of unacceptable or acceptable conditions being encountered once a contract has started. Output from the system can be considered during the planning, design and execution of the earthworks to aid the overall cost-effectiveness. The system, implemented as two computer programs, has been successfully validated through a full-scale trial and is ready for release to the industry. The potential benefits of the system to the construction industry are immeasurable. Significant cost savings through improvements in earthworking efficiency are possible through the controlled use of the system.

Additionally, the work has raised concerns about the current practice for interpreting MCV test results and a call for investigating this important issue is made.(DXN002450)