Readiness check

Is your asphalt density acceptance testing ready before the first truck?

Density acceptance is not paperwork after the pour. It is the number that decides how long the mat lasts and how much of the lot gets paid, and it rides on inputs you set before the first truck: the right Gmm, a gauge tied to cores, and tests taken where the spec says. Skip one and a mat that rolled out clean can read low on the core, lose a pay penalty and years of service life, and nobody on the crew sees it until the lab report comes back a mile down the road.

1. Have you pulled the project density spec and confirmed the basis, band, test method, lot size, and joint requirement?Pulled the spec and confirmed the basis (percent of Gmm or percent of a control density), the acceptance band, the test method, the lot size, and the joint requirement before pavingKnow the target number but have not confirmed the basis or the lot size and separate joint requirementBuilding to the 92 to 93 percent rule of thumb without pulling the project spec

2. Is the Gmm (Rice value) run on today's mix and confirmed before any density is computed?Ran the Rice test on the day's mix and verified the value before computing any densityHave a Gmm in hand but it was carried over from an earlier day's mixUsing the design Gmm or an assumed value with no day-of Rice test

3. Is the density gauge correlated to cores for the mix you are placing?Correlated the gauge to cores on this mix and redo the correlation when the mix, aggregate source, or gauge changesCorrelated once at job start and still running that offset after the mix has driftedRunning the gauge on its factory calibration with no correlation to cores

4. Is the nuclear gauge given a daily standard count on the reference block before use?Take the standard count on the reference block every day before the gauge is usedTake standard counts occasionally, not every daySkip the standard count and read against whatever baseline the gauge is holding

5. Are acceptance tests taken at the random spots the spec picks, in from any free edge?Tests fall at the random locations the spec sets, taken in from any free edge by the distance the spec requiresLocations are random but tests sometimes land on or close to the unconfined edgeTest spots are picked for convenience, including the cold outside edge of a pass

6. Is the longitudinal joint tested separately against its own minimum?Test the joint on its own line, centered on or just off the seam, against the separate joint minimumTest near the joint but out in the field of the mat, where the number reads betterDo not test the joint separately, only the field of the mat

7. For a nuclear gauge, is the source handling covered: licensed and badged operator, current leak test, locked storage, and transport rules?Trained and badged operator, current leak test, locked storage, and transport rules all in placeLicensed operator on site but the leak test or the storage and transport paperwork is behindGauge run by an untrained operator with no licensing, leak test, or secured storage

8. Are you capturing the density record per lot: Gmm, gauge offset and date, locations, each result, the joint, and conditions?Record the day's Gmm, the gauge-to-core offset and date, the test locations and how chosen, each result, the joint separately, and the conditions on any low lotRecord the density numbers but not the offset, the locations, or the conditions behind themDensity results with nothing behind them, reconciled from memory after the crew has moved on