Construction Materials Engineering

ETTL has been carrying out construction materials testing (CMT) and construction materials engineering (CME) projects for more than four decades.

ETTL's Construction Materials Testing and Engineering Capabilities:

  1. Construction materials formulation, especially of concrete designs, as well as designs for soil stabilization, making use of chemical additives to alter physical properties of soil.
  2. Construction materials testing, not only of concrete and asphalt but of soil, road base and airport runway materials, as well as liners (both soil and synthetic) for landfills; roofing materials; bridge bearing pads; and many other specialized testing situations, including placement and testing of fireproofing materials.
  3. Monitoring placement as well as carrying out testing of soil and concrete in an extreme range of constructions including: highways, bridges and dams; landfills; foundations and piers for buildings and structures of all types.
  4. Inspection of structural and reinforcing steel, including welds, bolts, and post tension cables, as well as rebar and rebar cages, making sure they are correctly sized and located.
  5. Evaluating and trouble-shooting existing pavement installations: runways, roads, bridges and parking lots, plus such specialized constructions as heavy industrial pavements.
  6. Soil Resistivity Testing—helping clients make sure the grounding systems they are designing (or have already installed) will be compatible with the soil in which they are placed.
  7. Pavement Design Services—for roads, highways, parking areas—for TxDOT and other clients.
  8. Laboratory Testing Services—ETTL laboratory equipment and services to test soil and aggregate samples.
  9. Forensic Investigations and Expert Witness Services.

ETTL's CME Quality Control Program

ETTL participates in several proficiency sample testing programs, including those conducted by AASHTO Materials Reference Laboratory (AMRL); Cement & Concrete Reference Laboratory (CCRL); and TxDOT Materials & Test Division Bituminous Proficiency Sampling. As part of their routines, the programs involve ETTL's laboratory facilities, which run tests on representative samples prepared by these agencies. ETTL's home office is audited every second year by AASHTO, which accredits ETTL's CME services.

In addition, ETTL meets the requirements of ASTM E 329.

ETTL also has been inspected and approved for work by the Texas Department of Transportation. And, as the need arises, ETTL has been inspected and approved by the Corps of Engineers for work on various Corps projects within ETTL's geographical service area.

ETTL Portland Cement Concrete Testing & Design Services

  1. Making, curing and testing concrete cylinders.
  2. Flexural strength testing of beams.
  3. Determining unit weight, air content and slump of concrete.
  4. Testing of aggregates for soundness, abrasion, specific gravity and gradation.
  5. Design of Portland Cement concrete mixes.
  6. Determining penetration resistance of hardened concrete.
  7. Determining rebound number of hardened concrete.

ETTL Asphaltic Concrete Testing & Design Services

  1. Bulk specific gravity and density of compacted mixtures.
  2. Resistance to plastic flow using Marshall apparatus.
  3. Resistance to deformation and cohesion by HVEEM apparatus.
  4. Theoretical maximum specific gravity of asphaltic concrete paving mixtures.
  5. Extraction of asphalt from paving mixtures.
  6. Mechanical analysis of extracted aggregates.

Steel Testing Services

  1. Visual inspection of steel during the erection phase, including inspection of structural and reinforcing steel such as post tension cables, as well as rebar and rebar cages, making sure they are correctly sized and located in keeping with construction drawings.
  2. Inspection of bolt torque.
  3. Visual inspection of welds.
  4. Welder qualification determination.

Soils and Aggregates Testing for Construction Materials Engineering Projects

  1. Moisture-density relationship (Proctor) of soils and aggregates.
  2. Moisture, density of soils and aggregates by nuclear, ring sleeve or sand cone methods.
  3. Constant head permeability.
  4. Soil classification and grain size analyses.
  5. California bearing ratio.
  6. Resistivity of soil material.
  7. Consolidation and swell properties.
  8. Hydraulic conductivity.
  9. Los Angeles abrasion.
  10. Designs for soil stabilization, making use of chemical additives to alter physical properties of soil.

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