NICET SOILS LEVEL 1 PRACTICE EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS | ALREADY GRADED A+RECENT VERSION

NICET SOILS LEVEL 1 PRACTICE EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS | ALREADY GRADED A+RECENT VERSION 1) Define C117 - ANSWER The determination of the amount of material finer than a 75-um (No.200) sieve 2) What is the significance of C136? - ANSWER -To determine the grading of materials, -compliance of particle size distribution, -provide data for control of production of various aggregate -developing relationships concerning porosity and packing 3) What procedure should always be used unless otherwise specified in c117? - ANSWER Procedure A 4) What is an appropriate wetting agent to use for sieving through a No.200 sieve? - ANSWER Water or any dispersing agent that will promote separation of the fine materials 5) What should the temperature of the oven be when drying samples?(C117) - ANSWER 110 °C (+-5) 6) If used, how much wetting agent should be used in procedure B? C117 - ANSWER Enough to produce a small amount of suds when the sample was agitated 7) Report the amount retained by wash by....?(C117) - ANSWER 10%-report to the .1% 10%-report to the nearest whole number 8) How long do you sieve material? C136 - ANSWER so that not more than 1% of material retained on any sieve will pass during 1 minute of hand sieving 9) How accurate shall balances be fo fine aggregate? C136 - ANSWER readable to the nearest .1 Gram or .1% 10) How accurate shall balances be for course aggregate or mixtures? C136 - ANSWER readable to the nearest .5 gram or nearest .1% 11) What is the significance of C117? - ANSWER Accurate determination of material finer than 75-um in mineral aggregate by washing 12) What practice is used for sampling aggregate? - ANSWER D75 13) The investigation of potential sample material should be performed by....? D75 - ANSWER A responsible, trained and experienced person 14) What should a stockpile be visually inspected of? D75 - ANSWER Discernable Variations 15) Where shall a sample be obtained where practicable?D75 - ANSWER From the finished product 16) After a sample is obtained what shall not be done unless required for testing purposes? D75 - ANSWER Further crushing or manual reduction 17) What shall be done if there are any discernable Variations in a stockpile? D75 - ANSWER Corrective action shall be taken to establish homogeneity in the material 18) If it is necessary to indicate the degree of variation in a stockpile, what shall be done? D75 - ANSWER Separate samples shall be drawn from separate areas of the pile 19) What increases when sampling from the beginning or the final few tons of a conveyor belt? D75 - ANSWER The potential of obtaining segregated material 20) When should method A be used in a standard proctor? D698 - ANSWER When 25% or less material is retained on a No. 4 sieve 21) When should method B be used for standard proctor? D698 - ANSWER When 25% or less material is retained on a 3/8" sieve 22) When should method C be used for standard proctor? D698 - ANSWER When 30% or less material is retained on a 3/4" sieve 23) When should a correction factor be established on a standard proctor? D698 - ANSWER When the test specimen contains more than 5% of oversize fractions 24) For purposes of comparing measured or calculated values, what shall the value be rounded to? D698 - ANSWER The nearest decimal or significant digit 25) The procedures in D698 are considered...? - ANSWER industry standard 26) Define Standard Effort....D698 - ANSWER 12,400 ft-Ibf/ft3 compactive effort applied by equipment in D698 27) Define Standard Optimum Water Content....D698 - ANSWER The molding water content at which soil can be compacted to the maximum dry unit weight using standard compactive effort 28) Define oversized fractions...D698 - ANSWER The portion of a sample that does not pass through the required sieve in D698 29) Laboratory compaction tests provide...D698 - ANSWER determination of the percent compaction and molding water needed to achieve engineering requirements 30) Soil placed as engineering fill is compacted to obtain what? D698 - ANSWER Sheer strength, compressibility or permeability 31) Success in executing the compaction controls of earth works is highly dependant on what? D698 - ANSWER The quality and experience of the contractor and inspector 32) What are the specs for a 4" mold for standard proctor? D698 - ANSWER -4" (+-).016" average inside diameter -4.584 (+-).018" height .0750 (+-).0009 ft^3 volume 33) What are the specs for a 6" mold for standard proctor? D698 - ANSWER -6" (+-).026" average inside diameter -4.584 (+-).018" height .0750 (+-).0009 ft^3 volume 34) What are the specs for a Rammer in a standard proctor? D698 - ANSWER -Shall fall freely a distance of 12(+- .05") -The weight shall be 5.50(+-.02 lbf) 35) What are the specs for a straight edge? D698 - ANSWER -a stiff metal straight edge no less than 10" -shall be straight with .05" -Scraping edge shall be no thicker than ⅛" 36) When should you standardize/calibrate the molds in D698? - ANSWER before initial use, after repairs, annually or after 1000 test specimens 37) How many lifts and blows should a 4" mold be compacted on standard proctor? D698 - ANSWER 3 lifts, 25 blows each 38) How many lifts and blows should a 6" mold be compacted in standard proctor? D698 - ANSWER 3 lifts, 56 blows each 39) When calibrating mold in D698 the difference between 2 methods shall not exceed... - ANSWER .5% of nominal volume of the mold 40) What Is the significance of D1140? - ANSWER The determination of the amount of material finer than a 75-um sieve in soils by washing 41) What is the maximum particle size allowed in test method D1140? - ANSWER 75MM (3 inch) 42) What is the dispersant allowed in D1140? - ANSWER Sodium Hexametaphosphate 43) What might a Soil Wash sample be obtained from? D1140 - ANSWER Bulk samples, jar samples, tube samples, or specimens used for other properties 44) How might a sample be reduced to testing size before a wash? D1140 - ANSWER quartering, use of a splitter, an entire jar sample, or cut a section from a tube and quarter length wise 45) When performing a wash, what should the water temperature never exceed? D1140 - ANSWER 32°C or 90°F to prevent the sieve fabric from expanding 46) What should happen if an insufficient amount of soil is is available for a wash? D1140 - ANSWER A smaller mass specimen may be used and report the reason why 47) If a hose is used for a wash, what should be prevented? D1140 - ANSWER Splashing of material over the sides or water accumulation on the 75-UM screen 48) When is the sand cone method applicable? D1556 - ANSWER For soils without appreciable amounts of rock or course material in excess of 1.5" in diameter 49) What is the sand cone method used for? D1556 - ANSWER Determine the in-place density and unit weight of natural soil deposits, aggregate, soil mixtures or similar material 50) What are the requirements for the soil to make use of sand cones? D1556 - ANSWER It must have sufficient cohesion to maintain stable sides and be firm enough to withstand minor pressures exerted in digging the hole without deforming 51) Sand cone method is not suitable for what? D1556 - ANSWER Organic, saturated, highly plastic soils, granular material or soils containing appreciable amount of material larger than 1.5" 52) Describe the base plate of a sand cone. D1556 - ANSWER may be round or square,fall on the bottom, have sufficient thickness to be rigid and will be a minimum of 3" larger than the funnel 53) What should the results be rounded to in the sand cone method?D1556 - ANSWER nearest decimal or significant digits 54) What should happen if a test location has small amounts of oversize fractions during a sand cone test? D1556 - ANSWER The test should be stopped and moved to a different location 55) What should be used to fill the hole in the sand cone method? D1556 - ANSWER Free flowing sand of a known density and volume. 56) When are larger apparatuses needed during a sand cone test? D1556 - ANSWER When particles are larger than 1.5" 57) What is the specification for sand used in the sand cone method? D1556 - ANSWER uniformly graded, free of fines and fine sand particles and bulk density variation should not be greater than 1% 58) What should be done to the sand before use in the sand cone? D1556 - ANSWER it shall be dried then allowed to reached an air dried state in the general location of testing 59) What is specified to be acceptable sand for sand cone? D1556 - ANSWER Bulk-density variation between any one determination shall not be greater than 1% 60) What types of soils can be used in Modified proctors? D1557 - ANSWER soils that have 30% or less of their particles retained on the ¾" sieve and have not been previous compacted 61) What types of soils can be used in Modified proctors? D698 - ANSWER soils that have 30% or less of their particles retained on the ¾" sieve and have not been previous compacted 62) When should a correction factor be used on standard/modified proctors? D698/D1557 - ANSWER When more than 5% of oversized fractions are retained on any method sieve 63) What type of rammer should be used for a modified proctor? D1557 - ANSWER -Shall free fall a length of 18" (+-.05") -weight shall be 10lbf (+- .02lbf) -with a round and planar face with a diameter of 2" (+-.05")