Preparation
1. Prepare sufficient fine aggregate passing sieve size 1.25 mm and retained on pan and dry to constant weight. Weigh 3kg to make 20 separate number of specimens.
2. Weigh the containers when empty and record. Place 200g of dried soil into the air-tight moisture content tins and weigh and record.
3. Vary quantity of water as indicated in the table below and add to each pair of containers and allow moisturization for 24 hours and weigh thereafter before placing in the oven or for speedy tester method.
NB: After weighing, place all oven method tins into a standard oven with temperature not greater than 105oC and dry the specimen to constant weight and thereafter determine the moisture contents. The average reading of each pair shall be the moisture of the specimen (see Table 1).
NB: for the speedy tester method, use the apparatus to determine the moisture content of each pair of specimens to constant moisture reading. The average reading of each pair shall be the moisture of the specimen (see Table 2).
Calibration
Plot a straight-line graph of oven moisture against speedy tester results. By using the plotted graph, speedy test results can be converted to oven method results.