Worker in orange shirt examines large pile of gravel or crushed stone outdoors on sunny day.

Construction Materials Testing & Inspection in Central Florida

Same-day numbers. Certified technicians.

Soil, concrete, asphalt, and masonry testing from our own laboratory in DeLand, with CTQP-certified technicians and FDOT-approved Superpave mix designs. We test projects within about a two-hour drive of the lab, which covers most of Central and Northeast Florida.

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What We Test Test Methods FDOT QC/QA The Lab FAQs

What we test, and why it matters

A failed test after the pour costs far more than the test did. We report from the field the same day so you can fix a problem while it's still cheap.

Worker in orange shirt inspecting a large pile of gravel or crushed stone at a construction site under blue sky.

Soils & earthwork

Density, compaction, Proctor, LBR, and bearing verification before anything gets built on it.

Concrete

Cylinders, slump, air content, and temperature, cast and cured to standard.

Asphalt

Density, extraction, gradation, and Superpave mix design for roadway work.

Masonry

Grout and mortar sampling, prisms, and block compressive strength.

Aggregates

Gradation, soundness, and quality testing on incoming material.

Monitoring

Vibration and settlement monitoring adjacent to sensitive structures, plus field observation of over-excavation and demucking.

Construction observation and plant monitoring

Some work has to be watched while it happens. Our inspectors observe over-excavation and demucking, pile driving, slurry wall construction, asphalt paving, and weld and bolt connections, and keep the field logs and data sheets that back up each inspection report. We also monitor ready-mix and concrete products plants as well as your site, and in the lab we test concrete cylinders and beams and evaluate in-place hardened concrete.

Test methods

Every result we issue cites the method it was run to. Here's the core of what we perform.

Soils & Earthwork

Method Test Used for
ASTM D6938 Test Nuclear density & moisture Used for In-place compaction acceptance on fill and subgrade
ASTM D698 Test Standard Proctor Used for Establishing maximum dry density for building pads
ASTM D1557 Test Modified Proctor Used for Heavier compactive effort for roadway and structural fill
FM 5-515 Test Limerock Bearing Ratio (LBR) Used for Florida base and subgrade acceptance
ASTM D2487 / D2216 Test Classification & moisture content Used for Identifying and documenting material types

Concrete

Method Test Used for
ASTM C31 Test Field cylinder casting & curing Used for Preparing specimens that represent the actual pour
ASTM C39 Test Compressive strength Used for The 7-day and 28-day breaks your acceptance depends on
ASTM C143 Test Slump Used for Workability and water-content control at the truck
ASTM C231 / C173 Test Air content Used for Freeze-thaw and durability verification
ASTM C1064 Test Temperature Used for Hot-weather placement control, which matters in Florida

Asphalt & Masonry

Method Test Used for
AASHTO T 166 Test Bulk specific gravity Used for In-place asphalt density determination
AASHTO T 308 Test Ignition oven asphalt content Used for Verifying binder content against the mix design
AASHTO T 30 Test Extracted aggregate gradation Used for Confirming the aggregate blend as placed
Superpave Test FDOT-approved mix designs Used for Roadway paving on state and county work
ASTM C1019 / C780 Test Grout & mortar sampling Used for Masonry acceptance and prism strength

Our laboratory

Same day field density reporting

Our DeLand laboratory is run by Charles "Evan" Ostler, Laboratory Manager, and the materials testing division has operated under Vice President Randy Stormant since 1992. The lab is ours, in our building in DeLand. That's why we can turn a cylinder break around without waiting in someone else's queue, and why a question about a result gets answered by the person who ran it.

FDOT quality control & assurance

Certified technicians on every FDOT test.

Public work has rules about who is allowed to run the test, not just how it's run. Our in-house laboratory is fully certified for FDOT work.

Materials testing FAQ

What is construction materials testing?

Verification that the soil, concrete, asphalt, and masonry going into your project meet spec. Technicians sample in the field, run standardized tests, and report results the contractor and building department rely on to accept the work.

How soon do I get compaction test results?

Nuclear gauge density results are available on site immediately, with a written report the same day. Lab tests like Proctors and LBR take several business days depending on method.

Why does concrete need 7-day and 28-day breaks?

The 7-day break tells you whether the mix is gaining strength on schedule. The 28-day break is the acceptance test. A low 7-day number is a warning worth acting on, not a failure.

What does CTQP certification mean?

Construction Training Qualification Program, the certification FDOT requires for technicians performing acceptance testing on state projects. Our technicians hold it.

Do you provide FDOT-approved asphalt mix designs?

Yes, along with the QC/QA testing that goes with them on roadway projects.