A section of a few hundred tons placed at the start of production, or after a change in mix or equipment, to prove that the mix, paver and rollers can reach density. The crew shoots density after each roller pass to find where the gains stop, cores verify the gauge, and the result sets both the rolling pattern and the gauge correlation for the rest of the job.
Control strip goes down first thing on the westbound lane, I want ten nuke readings and five cores before we go to full production.
Also heard as
- test strip
- test section
Related terms
Rolling pattern
The planned number, order and coverage of roller passes needed to reach density across the full mat.
Nuclear gauge
A portable instrument with a radioactive source that estimates asphalt density in about a minute without cutting a core.
Core
A cylinder of pavement drilled out of the finished mat and sent to the lab for density and thickness.
Density
How tightly a compacted asphalt layer is packed, reported as a percentage of its maximum theoretical density.