No more than 5% passing........

My job.  Drive three and a half hours to a job site in Eastern Utah.  This days project at least 5 hours behind schedule.  Four - twelve thousand gallon tanks waiting to be installed first thing in the morning.  A 42 x 42 foot hole 14 feet deep just finished being excavated.  As I arrive I notice a slight problem with 500 tons of gravel that appears to not meet the specifications as set forth during the project bid.  

My Job.  Stop the work!  I'm the bad guy sometimes on these jobs.  In todays construction  market many contractors are looking for every opportunity to cut costs.  One of my responsibilities is to insure that we get the minimum specified during the bidding process.  The material that is bedded around four - twelve thousand gallon tanks full of gas and diesel is defined very specifically by standard testing procedures.    If the material does not meet or exceed the minimum specification  there is a potential for a failure of the tanks.  That is the reason for the same specification being called out by the Tank Manufacturer.  

The specification.  No more than 5% can pass through a #8 sieve.  Tonight in Naples the material appears to have a much greater than 5% amount that could pass through a #8 sieve.  

Stop the work.

I gave a quick lesson on how to collect samples for testing tonight.  Called the tester out from under the Lakers Game.  Sometime tonight we will get the test results.  My bet is that the material does not pass the TEST.  

The photo above is a Rock Shooter shooting the pea gravel into the excavation.    The lighting was backlit.  The material that does pass through a #8 sieve can be seen as dust in the photo.  Not wildlife.  Not A scenic.  Not even a new assignment.  I thought you might find it interesting....and I couldn't sneak away from the job site get in some photography.