Rapid Field Test for Lift Thickness Determination of Shale during Construction - Phase 1

摘要

There is a need to develop a rapid, simple and inexpensive test to classify shales with respect to their durability and degradation in order to determine the lift thickness for West Virginia's embankments during construction. The slake durability tests can be used to identify, with respect to hardness, the two types of shale used in the study. The Franklin test is more discriminating than the jar slake test. The compaction tests, in general, can distinguish between the hard and soft shales with fair to good results. The modified aggregate impact test gives the best results with the static, crushing, and Protodyakanov tests having only fair success in differentiating between the hard and soft shales. The point load and the West Virginia hardness tests gave poor results in identifying the hardness of the shales.