DCP technical library

These are the manuals and research reports behind the dynamic cone penetrometer: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports that introduced the dual mass DCP, state DOT studies on using it for compaction acceptance, and Salem Tool’s own manual. Each file is a free PDF.

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Using a Salem Tool DCP

• Application and maintenance manual: Salem Tool, 2007, 16 pages. How the Corps-style dual mass DCP is built and used: operation, disposable cone tips and the go/no-go gauge, soil strength evaluation, and the DCP to CBR correlation.

• Assembly and maintenance instructions: Salem Tool, 2007, one page. Assembling the extension shaft and replacing the set screw.

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Where the dual mass DCP comes from (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

• Description and Application of Dual Mass Dynamic Cone Penetrometer: USACE Instruction Report GL-92-3, Webster, Grau and Williams, Waterways Experiment Station, May 1992, 52 pages. The Corps report that describes the dual mass DCP and how to use it. It is the source of the DCP to CBR correlation that ASTM D6951 adopts.

• Evaluation of In Situ Pavement Layers with the DCP: Tingle and Jersey, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, 2007, 24 pages. The Corps’ recommended procedure for evaluating in-place pavement layers with the DCP, regression models from DCP index to CBR, and a method for converting DCP results to bearing capacity.

• Force Projection Site Evaluation Using the ECP and the DCP: USACE Technical Report GL-94-17, Webster, Brown and Porter, April 1994, 174 pages. Prepared for the Air Force Civil Engineering Support Agency. Compares the electric cone penetrometer with the DCP for evaluating sites, with the CBR correlation data for both.

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Construction quality assurance (Minnesota and Indiana DOTs)

• Using the DCP and LWD for Construction Quality Assurance: MnDOT Report 2009-12, Siekmeier et al., February 2009, 244 pages. Proposes DCP and light weight deflectometer target values for compacted granular materials and fine-grained soils, based on grading number, plastic limit and field moisture, and standardizes the test procedure. Also available: the 2008 draft of the same study (LRRB Investigation 860, 60 pages).

• Validation of DCP and LWD Moisture Specifications for Granular Materials: MnDOT Report 2006-20, Davich et al., July 2006, 95 pages. A laboratory study of MnDOT’s DCP specification, which it found assessed compaction quality accurately.

• INDOT: DCP and LWD for compaction acceptance: Indiana DOT presentation, Siddiki, March 2014, 48 slides. Indiana’s move to the DCP and LWD for compaction acceptance, with DCP blow-count criteria by soil type.

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How the DCP compares with other tests

• Comparison of the DCP with Other Tests in Minnesota: Siekmeier, Young and Beberg, ASTM STP 1375, 1999, 14 pages. The DCP, a portable falling weight deflectometer and a soil stiffness gauge on Minnesota subgrade and base projects in the 1998 season, with DCP results converted to modulus and compared.

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Salem Tool’s DCP reference pages

• DCP Guide: how the test works, single or dual mass, cone tips.

• DCP to CBR: the formula, a worked example and a conversion table.

• ASTM D6951: what the standard covers and how it differs from other DCPs.

Every Salem Tool kit is built in Northville, Michigan, to ASTM D6951 and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers standards. Compare the kits, or request a quote for a purchase order.