“Load-bearing tests performed on the subgrade only give a contractor an indication of compaction density for that specific location tested,” Erdmann points out.

Highway construction often faces challenges in ensuring long-term subgrade performance due to traditional compaction quality control (QC) methods that rely on manual adjustments and sporadic testing.

Sundt Construction’s first use of intelligent compaction technology, on a nine-mile highway expansion in central Arizona discovered some sub-par subgrade compaction that would have been ...