Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!

Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!

Register Log in
  • Congratulations TugboatEng on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

Bentonite mix testing using Atterbergs. 1

Status
Not open for further replies.
briansmithak

briansmithak

Materials
Joined
Jun 15, 2017
Messages
2
Location
US
I am currently testing surface coarse material for a road in Montana. The original material to be used had no PI. It was decided to add bentonite to give the material a PI of up to 7 +-3. Everyone who tests this material gets different answers ranging from 0 to 16. This is the first time I am testing bentonite. I know it is very finicky. Because everyone is getting conflicting Atterberg results, I was wondering if there is a better way to test bentonite mix soils? I heard of a cone drop/penetration test. I just want a more accurate answer so that we can figure out which tester is the most accurate.

 
Sort by date Sort by votes
You are asking for trouble with bentonite. It is very touchy stuff. Let's suppose there is some problem with getting the exact percentage on the job. Just a shade too much and you may well have an unholy mess on your hands later. If you and the contractor are not used to blending this stuff, look out. Why not look around for some local source of more silty material? Have you looked at blending in some cement? A weak soil cement mix may well do the job.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Behaviour of bentonite will be dictated by its hydratation. If all the lab testers don't follow the same procedure, they can't reach the same results. You should mix water and bentonite first and let it hydrate for 24 hours before testing.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I agree with OG. Perhaps cement mix will be a better solution for your material. Also,I think that there may be more references for cement treated soils than bentonite mixings which will allow for more consistent testing results since guidelines are defined better.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

ONENGINEER
  • Locked
  • Question Question
Frequency of laboratory Testing along Boreholes
Replies
8
Views
2K
EireChch
EireChch
harrohb
  • Locked
  • Question Question
Is my understanding of CU testing correct?
Replies
4
Views
2K
EireChch
EireChch
learning2geotech
  • Locked
  • Question Question
Infiltration Test Using Aarkvark Permeameter
Replies
0
Views
277
learning2geotech
learning2geotech
GeoGeoGeo
  • Locked
  • Question Question
Cyclic triaxial testing on rock
Replies
0
Views
270
GeoGeoGeo
GeoGeoGeo
pelelo
  • Locked
  • Question Question
SPT using 18 in vs 24 in sampling
Replies
11
Views
2K
EireChch
EireChch

Part and Inventory Search

Sponsor

Back
Top