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Abstract

Contractors bid to construct embankments with high-capacity machines on a mass-production basis. This mass productivity greatly limits the selectivity of materials in borrow pits and excavations, and the large machines used require trafficability of the embankment materials, thus limiting the allowable moisture content of fine-grained soils. Mass production also requires that the material sources be readily accessible throughout the construction season. If mass production cannot be achieved from the specified sources, delays and contractual disputes are inevitable. Such delays and disputes often result in increased costs to the owner, and these costs usually are greatly in excess of what it would have cost to provide more foolproof sources and materials in the original plans and specifications.

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Robert B. Jansen (Consulting Civil Engineer)

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Dolen, T.P., Fetzer, C.A., Jansen, R.B., Knodel, P.C., Schrader, E.K., Timblin, L.O. (1988). Materials. In: Jansen, R.B. (eds) Advanced Dam Engineering for Design, Construction, and Rehabilitation. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0857-7_6

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