The term CBR testing is new to many but it involves a very systematic and rigorous approach. It is California bearing ratio test which determines the highway strength for the subway sub base materials and sediment. It is done for the purpose of car park or road construction on any kind of granular or sandy terrain or area. This test is done through penetration to review the bearing capability of the sub soil. It goes to the credit of the California State Highway Department that it has published and recorded the basics of the CBR testing in an official document.
More details
This kind of soil test has to be undertaken in a specific and organized manner by the trained professionals. The expert has to analyze a certain segment of the soil and calculate the amount of pressure to be taken at that point. There is the requirement of a plunger to do this specific soil test. Once the pressure is found out it has to be divided with the required amount of pressure for the penetration to be done. From a conventional point of view, it has been seen that rough surfaces have higher values of testing. So it can be safely said that with the increase in pressure, the value will rise up. You cannot conduct this kind of soil test on any surface. As per the professional studies, it is proven that the soil under observation has to have a 20 mms particle size. The plate testing is also done if you need to analyze the soil for a pile mat or a crane bearing capacity. This method is used to implement a plunger that is cylindrical on a base surface. It involves a lot of rigorous procedures.
Conclusion
The plate testing is done only under special circumstances, if the soil under observation has a granular size of more than 20mm. Then this kind of soil testing is done to do the needful. When there are many sites under observation to deal with, the number of soil tests can be as many as eight to ten on a daily basis. The investigator and his team have a lot of test results to go through per day, determined by the kinds of trained personnel available. The soil analysis is done very methodically for creating roads or highways, to ensure the safety of the people, pedestrians and vehicles.