Earthworks fill design and setting specification limits

In no part of geotechnical engineering are design and construction and, in some instances, monitoring, more intimately linked than in earthworks. The control of fill placement may be considered an extension of design and is so treated here. The majority of earthworks (leaving aside cuttings and excavations to form the foundations for embankments, structures and landfills) deals with remoulded or partly remoulded soils. Consequently the fill, when placed, has to be continuously checked to ensure that the remoulded properties selected for design (such as: in situ density, air voids content, shear strength, stiffness, and moisture condition value (MCV) or California bearing ratio (CBR) values) are being obtained in the field. Good earthworks design goes further, requiring performance monitoring in addition to construction control.