Working with Materials
In the Materials sections of the Project Library and External Library, you can:
- Create new material categories and construction materials. These materials can then be used in your project to define the strata beneath the original ground and subgrade of site improvements.
- Edit the properties of existing materials.
- Copy materials from the External Library to the Project Library for use within your project.
Earthen materials
Earthen materials and their related properties differ from other materials, such as paving materials, even though certain earthen materials may also be used in paving operations. Therefore, some earthen materials may be defined in multiple categories, when applicable. The properties assigned to earthen materials differ from those assigned to pavement base and subgrade materials, even though the same actual physical material may be defined within both categories. For example, certain types of soils, whether imported or found in situ on job sites, may need to be accounted for in the mass earthwork volume and mass haul reports, and therefore assigned earthen material properties, while also being employed within pavement subgrades or bases and assigned pavement properties. When materials to be used in pavement construction are imported from off-site, they are not to be accounted for in mass earthwork volume or mass haul analyses, but instead as an imported material.
In mass earthwork computations, earthen materials are typically measured using a consistent unit of volume measure. That measurement unit is not considered to be a property of the material, but the consistent means by which all such materials are measured within an earthwork or mass haul report. The unit of measure employed by the Earthwork Report is set in Project Settings command under Volume Units. That setting establishes the unit of measure by which earthen materials are accounted for within earthwork reports and mass haul analyses. That same unit of measure is used to account for those same materials when used within pavement bases or subgrades.
