b"QUALITY CONTROLOnce a material sample is obtained from an aggregate product's plant, it is taken toAggregate samples are sifted through screens and separated; the a lab where it undergoes a series of tests that include measuring and counting pieces are then measured, counted and plotted on a graphones business. Failing to meet specs can resultthisrepresentativesampleintonearbyLAB TESTINGin hefty fines and put aggregate producersbins or pails, where the sample is held forOnce a material sample is obtained from and suppliers at risk of being excluded frominspection by quality control technicians. Inan aggregate products plant, it is taken bidding on work moving forward. Moreover,most plants, however, a loader is used to taketo a lab for testing. Here, the sample pile says MacKay, A lot of larger owners, like thea representative pad of material from a pileissiftedthroughscreensandseparated Ministry of Transportation, pay you basedand place it down for a technician to thenbyitsindividualfractions,whichare on the end result of your product, and thatsarrive and remove a sample themselves.then measured, counted and plotted on largely based on quality. So, if your producta graph to produce a gradation curve. At doesntmeetquality,youregoingtogetIn both instances, youre working withthis point, technicians assess that curve rejected or penalized. the law of averages, says Caruana. Due toto see if it fits with the maximum and Thesepotentialconsequencesarentgravity and inertia, when you put up a pile ofminimumofthespecificationandthe common in the industry, but they do serveaggregate, the core stone tends to go to theproducers target.as incentives to keep quality control top ofouter side of the pile and the fine stone tendsThe process is slightly more involved mind. Thats why a lot of companies haveto stay on the underside. So, if you just go infor finer materials. In this case, the fines a more onerous target over and above thethere with a loader and just take one bucket(e.g., natural sand particles) are washed specification, just to allow that extra factorand put it down for your tech to grab a sampleoff,driedinanoven,andthedustis of safety, explains Caruana. If somethingfrom, its not going to be representative ofweighed. This is done because dust is goes wrong on any given day, the logic isthat entire pile. Its either going to be coarseundesirable in an instance like concrete that material should still meet or exceed theor fine, depending on which side your loaderstone because we want that cement paste specification that the end purpose requires. operator went to. to adhere to the stones and form a very For this reason, when a loader is used tocompetent concrete mix, says Caruana. QC PROCESSIts like when youre a kid and you try Therearekeysequentialstepsthatmakeextract the sample, it blends the material sototapesomethingtoadustysurface, up the quality control process. It begins bythat, according to the law of averages, it isand it comes off the next second. Its the extractingasampleofmaterialsfromthea representative pile. Once that pad is down,sameprinciple.source that will be used for testing. Somethe technician uses their own shovel to take aggregate plants use automated samplers tothe material out in a representative way soMaterial may undergo other testing at pick material off the live belt and transportit can be transported to their lab for testing. the lab. This includes flat and elongated, 14 AVENUESFALL 2023"