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https://hdl.handle.net/11681/3421| Title: | Development and tests of a radioactive sediment density probe |
| Authors: | Technical Operations Inc. (Burlington, Mass.) United States. Army. Office of the Chief of Engineers Caldwell, Joseph M. (Joseph Morton) United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Ohio River Division |
| Keywords: | Instruments Instrumentation Equipment Density Gage Soils Soil density Radioactivity Sedimentation and Deposition |
| Publisher: | United States, Beach Erosion Board Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.) |
| Series/Report no.: | Technical memorandum (United States. Beach Erosion Board) ; no. 121. |
| Description: | Technical Memorandum From the Introduction: The shoaling of navigable waterways and the filling of reservoirs by sedimentary material result in costly maintenance in the first case and loss of storage capacity in the second case. In attempting to overcome the problems presented by these deposits, the engineer is handicapped by the lack of a suitable means for determining, quickly and economically, the actual amount of solid material in the shoal. The shoals may be very thin mixtures with specific gravity of less than 1.1 or may be relatively dense mixtures with specific gravities of 1.5 or more. In either case, the leadline and the echo sounder can at best give only a very qualitative estimate of the density of the shoal material under observation. The mechanical sampling devices currently used to obtain undisturbed samples are rather expensive to operate and the analysis of the resulting samples is rather tedious and expensive; also, there is some doubt that many of the samplers in use obtain a truly representative sample of shoal material. In view of the desirability of improving the methods of studying underwater deposits, the possibilities of developing a suitable device were reviewed. This review indicated that no device along the lines contemplated had been developed, but that a practical device could probably be developed at a reasonable cost. The purpose of the approved project was to develop, for field use, a density probe utilizing nuclear radiation which would measure the density, in place, of unconsolidated marine sediments of the type normally encountered in navigation channels and reservoirs. |
| Rights: | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11681/3421 |
| Appears in Collections: | Technical Memorandum |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEB-TM-121.pdf | 3.74 MB | Adobe PDF |  View/Open |