Interview Questions and Answers – Project

management/Planning/QS
*** Tell me something about Construction Planning!

Planning is a precaution by which we can reduce undesirable effects or unexpected

happenings and thereby eliminate confusion, waste and loss of efficiency.

The success of a project depends greatly on careful and continuous planning.

 Purpose of Planning:
1. To persuade people to perform their tasks on time.
2. Eliminating unnecessary delay and deliver on time.
3. Plan the work in such a sequence that the best use is made of available
resources.
4. To provide a framework for monitoring the progress of the project and
decision making in the event of change.

*** When the Planning phase is started for a project?

I think Planning should be started as soon as the project life cycle starts. I mean from
the day the project been awarded to us.

*** What do you normally need to develop a plan?

1. I need the contract documents to understand the scope

2. Drawings to know about area and scope
3. BOQ
4. Access of scheduling software like MSP, MS Excel
5. Yes I need to meet my project team and want to know about the constraints
they are facing
6. Again I need to take help of Project team to know about a little productivity
rate if I don’t know in case of specific activity.

*** What are the difference between MSP & primavera?

1. MSP can handle one project at a time while Primavera can handle multiple
project
2. MSP can create 11 baselines only while Primavera can have unlimited
baseline
3. We can use undo 99 times in MSP, while can use unlimited time in Primavera
4. MSP is little user friendly as most people are quite familiar with Microsoft
products.

*** Why Planning is important in any project?

Planning or the initiation phases are very prone to risk. If not done properly then the
outcome on that particular project may be a drastic one. May we won’t be able to
deliver the project on time, may we can face huge financial loss or may we can
encounter both. Reputation of company will also hamper.

*** What is the relation between Planning and Cost Change?

A proper planning is that which will focus on timely completion of project and proper
utilization of resources as well.

Cost change is minimum at the start of the project and maximum as the project
progresses. This is the reason planning is one of the most important phases of any
project.

If we plan fails, we fails to meet the deadline, we have to engage more manpower,
more resources. Cost of materials, labour, hire charges of equipment may rise.

Owner can impose LD also. So, huge financial impact will be there.

*** What is WBS?

Work Breakdown Structure is the “Skeleton of Work”. It actually breakdowns the

project into smaller components.

*** What is Project Management in simple term?

It’s all about how you achieve your goals by involving all the primary stakeholders
and using resources in an optimized way by considering Triple Constraints, i.e. Cost,
Time & Scope in line with quality.

*** What is a Constraint?

A limitation that reduces the efficiency with which a project can be accomplished is
called Constraint.

*** What is Triple Constraint Triangle in Project Management?

Project Cost, Schedule/Duration and Scope are depicted as a Project Management

Triangle. The triangle is formed by customer as the centre point and the three
aspects form the sides of the triangle.

*** What are undesirable in any plan?

Constraints, lags, negative floats etc.

*** What do you know about Rolling Wave Planning?

At first, a very high level planning is done at project level when you only have a
concept because at that time you don’t have much resources or team members to
coordinate.
Then we do it on phase levels.

Rolling Wave planning is done at the deliverable level. It can be like lookahead
weekly basis or even done daily on foreman levels.

*** What are the different types of Schedule?

Schedules can be of many types, like, L1, L2, L3, L4… etc.

L1 is the most basic schedule to get an overview of the time span. It’s basically a
kind tender program.

L2 is the extension of L1 with more detailing clearly indicating delivery of each work
package. Usually submitted after contract being awarded.

L3 is the extension of L2 with Critical Path. This is usually developed after

submission of L2 & before start of execution

L4 is the extension of L3. L4 is very extensive. It can be used for developing

monthly/weekly programs, 3 month look ahead programs etc. We can say it as major
activities schedule.

L5 is detailed activities schedule.

L6 is micro-detail activities schedule.

*** What do you know about “FIDIC” Contract?

“FIDIC” is an International Federation of Consulting Engineers, established in 1913

by a group of French and Swiss engineers. It was founded in an effort to create a
uniform set of documentation for contractual agreements, which are applicable for
use in different types of construction projects and also to simplify the bidding process
to become more user friendly.

FIDIC forms are divided by colours, like

1. Green Book – Short form of Contract

2. Red Book – Construction which includes conditions of subcontract.
3. Pink Book – Construction MDB Edition
4. Yellow Book – Plant & Design Build
5. Silver Book – EPC/Turn Key Project
6. Blue Book – Tendering Procedure

FIDIC contract consists mainly:

1. Contract agreement
2. Letter of tender
3. Letter of acceptance
4. Conditions of contract
5. Specifications
6. Drawings
7. Schedules
8. Dispute adjudication agreement

*** What are the KPI’s?

Key Performance Indicator is a kind of tool of performance measurement. It’s

evaluate the success of an organization. We should categories KPI’s under 5 main
categories, like:

1. Timeliness: This is making sure your project is done on time, if it’s not, we
have to track where we are lagging and need to rectify.
2. Budget: Are we going to stay under the allocated budget or going to exceed
it?
3. Quality: It includes Customer satisfaction, Loyalty of customer in a long term,
number of errors during execution, customer complaints and how we are
attending them etc.
4. Safety: It’s all about how safely we are executing our project.
5. Effectiveness: Like number of milestone we have achieved so far
successfully, return on investment. Those things indicates effectiveness of our
system or our work process.

To make a good KPI, we need to adopt SMART working style, i.e.

 Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound

*** What is MIS System?

Management Information System is a user machine integrated system that provides

information to support operation, management & decision making functions relating
to planning and control of project objectives. It’s main functions are:

1. It helps to collect & verifying data from various dept. of a project

2. Evaluate the progress, productivity, budget related issues and analysing these
data.
3. It helps to take corrective and preventive actions
4. To highlight critical factors etc.

*** How to measure the progress of a project?

Normally there are three ways to measure the progress

1. Quantity
2. Cost or we can compare Contract amount vs executed amount
3. Time

By the way, we have to use all three methods on a single project to get more
intensive project updated status.

*** What is KOM – Kick off Meeting?

The Kick-off meeting is normally the first meeting of all major stakeholders including
the Project Manager with his team and owner’s representative. Here we discuss,
high level overall plans, things like how we are going to execute etc.

These meetings can be conducted at the new phase starts during the execution of
the project also.

*** What do you know about CPI?

It’s a Cost Performance Indicator and it evaluates whether the project is under
budget, over budgeted or on track. The formula is for CPI is the ratio of earned
value(EV) over actual costs(AC), i.e. CPI = EV/AC

*** What do you know about SPI?

Schedule Performance Index is a tool that measure how close the project is being
completed by analysing value of executed work with planned value, i.e. SPI = Value
of executed work/Planned value.

*** If you are reported 5 SPI, what it means?

It’s mean the value of executed work is 5 times more than the planned value which is
nearly impossible. It’s mean the planner has made a blunder during calculations.
*** What is EVM – Earned Value Management?

Earned Value Management analysis is a project management tool that is used to

measure project progress. It compares the actual work completed at any time to the
original budget and schedule. It gives you essential early signals about your project.
EVM mainly focuses on – 1. Schedule(Delays/on time/running ahead of time) and 2.
Cost(Over budgeted/Under budget/on track)

 Procedure:
1. Determine the percentage of completed task
2. Determine planned value for the task.
3. Determined the earned value
4. Obtain the actual cost
5. Calculate the variances(SV and CV)
6. Calculate other status indicator(CPI & SPI)
7. Compile results
 Benefit:
1. Reducing risk
2. Profitability analysis
3. Project forecasting
4. Better accountability
5. Performance tracking

*** Tell me something about Cost Estimation!

Estimates of Cost and Time are prepared and revised at many stages throughout the
development of a project.

 Purpose of Estimate :
1. To predict the most profitable cost of the work and also to define the range
within which the final cost is likely to lie
2. To produce a forecast of expenditure
3. Cash Flow can be evaluated based on Cost Estimates
 Cost Estimating Techniques : Ideally the data should be form a sufficiently
large sample of similar work in a similar location and constructed in similar
circumstances. Like we can see rates of similar kind of projects. We can use
DSR also to get an idea.

*** Tell me about various stages of Construction work!

1. Conception
2. Study and evaluation
3. Design
4. Contract
5. Construction
6. Utilization and Maintenance
*** What do you know about Tender?

A Tender is the contractor’s bid in writing offering to execute the specified work of
construction, supply of materials etc. at the rates and amounts indicated, within the
time limit and under the specified conditions.

The lowest bid is generally accepted.

The following tender documents are made available along with the tender forms to
enable contractors to bid for the job.

1. Layout plan
2. Set of drawings
3. Specification of works
4. Schedule of tools and plant and other facilities to be made available by the
owner, indicating the conditions.
5. General conditions of the contract including time limit.
6. Special conditions of the contract
7. Amount of security deposit to be paid

*** What are the main conditions of a contract?

1. Time of completion of work

2. Volume of work
3. Specification of work
4. Rates of payments
5. Penalties and penal rates.

*** Tell me something about Contract, Contractor and Contract System!

A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties to perform a

service, provide a product or commit to an act.

There are mainly two types of contract:

1. Fixed Price Contract – (In can be with Escalation Clause or without Escalation
Clause)
2. Cost Plus Contract

Contractor means a person or a firm who undertakes any type of contract & the
entire system is called Contract system.

*** What is Escalation Clause in Contract?

It is clause in a contract that allows for a rise in wages or prices under certain
conditions. It calls for adjustments in fees, wages, bills and other payments to
account for fluctuations in the costs of raw materials or labour. This clause shifts the
burden for increasing materials and labour costs from contractor to client.
There are mainly two types of Escalation:

1. Material Escalation –
Work done x % of component given in the contract x (Ci – Co)/Co

2. Labour Escalation –
Work done x % of component given in the contract x (Li – Lo)/Lo
Where, W = Work done for the current month
Ci = Current Price Index
Co = Base Price Index
Li = Current Labour Index
Lo = Base Labour Index

Ci changes almost in every month but Li changes only twice in an year, i.e. in
July(7th month) and December(12th month).

Wholesale Price Index(WPI-Ci/Li) governs and published by Office of

Economic Affairs.
Consumer Price Index(CPI) governs and published by Reserve Bank of India.

*** What is Price Variation Clause/Bill?

Considering the continuous fluctuations in material prices and wages of

labour, there is a need to have proper escalation clauses in construction
contract. Price Variation Clause is a clause in a contract allowing the seller to
vary the selling price under certain conditions.

*** What is the difference between Inflation and Escalation?

Inflation refers to the increased price of a basket of goods and services, while
escalation refers to an increase in price of a specified good or service.
Inflation is one of the factor that cause escalation.

*** Explain what is alternate bid?

Alternate bid is the amount stated in the bid to be added or deducted from the
base bid amount. Alternate bid is proposed when there is use of alternate
materials or method of construction.

*** Explain what is Change Order Request?

Change order request is a written document issued or given by the owner,
requesting an adjustment to the contract sum or an extension of the contract
time. Usually it is issued by owners representative.

*** What are normally you should see on a Change Order Form?
1. Change in the scope
2. Change in cost
 3. Change in time
4. Signature of officials
5. Date of change order

*** What is Cost Management?

Cost Management is concerned with the process of planning and controlling

the budget of a project. It includes activities such as planning, estimating,
budgeting, financing, funding, managing and controlling cost so that the
project can be completed within the approved budget.

*** Tell me some ways of Cost Control?

There is a Thumb Rule that 80% of the cost is determined by design and 20%
by construction.
1. Setting up Project Plan and detailed scheduling of each activities from
WBS
2. Preliminary Cost Estimation
3. Try to stick to the plan as far as possible to avoid unnecessary delays and
expenditure
4. Regular monitoring of Project Plan, Progress and Cash Flow
5. Encourage project team to execute the work keeping in mind the cost of
each activity at all stages.
6. Encourage project team to avoid rework and to proper utilization of
resources.
7. Prepare and review contingency plan

*** What is Contingency Plan?

Contingency Plan is basically a “Plan-B”. It’s a backup plan in place for when things
go differently than expected.

*** Main aspects to consider during a project budget?

1. Calculating the anticipated cost.

2. Preparing for a budget change.
3. Managing & monitoring the budget.

*** What is ACWP, BCWP & BCWS?

ACWP is Actual Cost of Work Performed, BCWP is Budgeted Cost of Work

Performed & BCWS is Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled.

*** What are SV and CV?

SV is schedule variance, computed as BCWP – BCWS

CV is cost variance, computed as BCWP – ACWP.

*** What is Cash Flow?

Cash Flow is basically incoming and outgoing of Cash. There are mainly two types of
Cash Flow – Inflow and Outflow.

Money that we received from Client as RA Bill, Advance etc. are Cash Inflow and the
expenditure of a project like wages, sub-contractor payment, material cost, hire
charges etc. are cash outflow.

Cash Flow should always be positive for a sustainable operation of an organization.

*** In which segment of costing staff salaries does considered?

Staff salaries are covered in Overhead.

*** What is Critical Path method?

CPM/Critical Path Method is a project modelling technique developed by Dupont in

the late 1950’s. To perform a successful CPM, we need to construct a model that
includes:

1. All the essential activities to complete the project form Work Breakdown
Structure
2. Time that each activities will take to complete
3. Dependencies between each activities
4. A logical end date.

By analysis these values we can determine which activity is taking the longest time
to complete, i.e. Critical Path. We can also determine which activities has Free Float
and Total Float, i.e. can be delayed without making the project longer.

*** What is Dummy Activity in CPM Method?

Dummy Activity is an activity, which do not consume any time. Dummies are used
only to ensure separate activity numbers and maintain the correct logic of the
network. This activity is represented by dotted arrow.

*** What is Free Float and Total Float?

 Free Float – The amount of time we can delay an activity without affecting the
early start date of its successor activity.
 Total Float – The amount of time we can delay an activity from its early start
date without delaying the whole project finish.

Free Float may affect the start of any activity but Total Float may affect the duration
of the overall project.

*** How much Float allowed in any plan?

There is no hard and fast rule. They say 10% of the total project duration is allowed.
*** What is Milestone?

A milestone is an event, a marker in a project that signifies a change or stage in

development. Milestones are powerful components in project management because
they show key events and map forward movement in your Project Plan.

*** How much duration a milestone activity normally has?

Milestone typically have ZERO duration.

*** What is Baseline in Project Schedule?

A baseline is a mutually agreed program by both parties which is used as a

benchmark to measure the progress of a project.

*** How many Baselines are allowed in any project and which one decides the
success or failure of the project?

A project must have minimum one project baseline and that number can go to
unlimited. But if you find a number of baselines that means the planning team is
quite inefficient – Avoid it!

The latest baseline defines the success or failure of a project.

*** How to avoid Negative Float in a Baseline Schedule?

Negative float indicates that the activity is already delayed. Normally, a constraint is
the culprit of it. Remove all the constraints or use proper logic-relationships to deal
with it.

*** Main aspects to consider during a Delay Analysis?

For me, to perform a successful delay analysis, we need to focus on 4 basic things:

1. What was supposed to happen?

2. What did actually happen?
3. What are the variances?
4. How did they affect the project?

*** What is Fish Bone Diagram?

A “Cause and Effect” diagram often called as Fish Bone Diagram. It can help in
brainstorming to identify possible causes of a problem and sorting out ideas into
useful categories. A Fish Bone Diagram is a visual way to look at Cause and Effect.
The problem or effect is displayed as the Head or mouth of the fish and possible
causes are listed on smaller bones under various cause categories, i.e. main bones.

*** What is an “S-Curve”?

A graphical representation of anything like, Man-hours, cost, quantities of certain
items etc plotted against time.

*** Difference between Grantt Chart & Network Diagram?

Both are project management tools that help the teams to see the project at a
glance.

Grantt Chart displays activities, task, events plotted against time. It gives information
like start & finish of activity, overlaps among activities. It shows the time frame of the
whole project as summary bar. Length of the bar in Grantt Chart represents the
duration of any particular activity or task.

Network diagram explains the linkage of activities that helps to understand the flow
of work.

*** What do you know about Pareto Principle?

Mr. Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian Economist found out that roughly 80% of the wealth
was held by 20% of the population and the same can be applicable to other areas
too like 80% of our revenue comes from roughly 20% of our items, 80% of problems
are related to 20% of the issues etc. This principle is also known as the 80/20
Principle.

*** What is Extension of Time/”EOT” in Construction Contract?

Construction contracts generally allow the construction period to be extended where

there is a delay that is not contractor’s fault. This is Extension of Time.

Contractors need to find out and present relevant causes those are not attributable
to them to justify their claim.

Relevant events may include:

1. Changes in Scope or working methods

2. Extremely diverse weather
3. Epidemic or Terrorism
4. Failure to provide information and drawings by client
5. Work front related issues
6. Delay in supply of materials and goods by client
7. Force majeure(such as an epidemic or act of God)
8. Changes in statutory requirements, etc.

These events should be well documented to justify the claim. Therefore, all relevant
documents like letters, e-mails, various registers, MOM’s, drawing registers, material
receipt details etc. should always be preserved.

*** What do you know about Rate Analysis?

In order to determine the rate of a particular item, the factors affecting the rate of that
item studied carefully, thus a rate is decided. This procedure is called Rate Analysis.

 Purpose of Rate Analysis:

1. Determine the rate of a particular item
2. Determine the Project value by analysing Scope and rates of each item
3. Estimate the required resource.
4. Based on the project value we can finalise budget
5. Negotiate with supplier or sub-contractor

 Factors affecting rate analysis:

1. Specification of Civil Work
2. Location of work
3. Quality and availability of material
4. Availability of labour
5. Working procedure
6. Transportation cost, if applicable
7. Equipment cost, if applicable
8. Water and electricity cost, if applicable (generally 1%)
9. Safety related expenses (generally 1%)
10. Contractors over-head and profit (generally 1%)
11. Taxes, if applicable

*** What is Productivity?

Productivity is the efficiency of any working group. It is measured as the amount of

output for work per hour/ per day. Productivity rate define how efficient team you
have. Productivity = Output/Input

 Factors affecting job site productivity:

1. Age, skill and experience of workforce
2. Leadership and motivation of workforce
3. Complexity of job
4. Job site and it’s accessibility
5. Equipment utilization
6. Local climate
7. Rework for correcting unsatisfactory work
8. Non-working holidays or strikes
9. Temporary stoppage of work due to shortage of material or bad weather.

*** What is Time Impact Analysis?

A Time Impact Analysis is a method used to determine the impact of delay or change
order will have on the overall project timeline.

 Purpose of Time Impact Analysis:

 It provides us the opportunity to really dig into the work that’s required to
complete the project and help us to plan accurately for the remainder of the
project, rather than just going with the flow.

 Procedure:
1. Identify the Impact event
2. Identify the current project schedule
3. Add the new work to the current schedule and analyse the impact
4. Prepare a new schedule for the balance work or recovery schedule

*** Tell me difference between Revised Schedule and Recovery Schedule?

A Recovery programme means that you may do some modification but the new
programme is still aimed/focussed on the same or original target, while a Revise
Programme may have some changes that effects the entire time frame or the scope.

*** Tell me about various kinds of expenses of a project!

There are mainly two types of expenses – Fixed and Variable.

 Fixed Expenses:
1. Capital expenses like buying business assets, equipment, vehicles etc.
2. Payment of business loan
3. Utility payments
4. Staff salary and labour payment
5. General office overhead, etc.
 Variable:
1. Donation to charities or other organization
2. Gifts to employees or customers
3. Arrangement of parties and get together
4. Employee trainings

*** What are the Capital Cost and Operational Cost of a Project?

 Capital Cost : Capital Cost are those which are one time expenditure which
may be beneficial for the current financial year or may be for many upcoming
financial year. Like,
1. Land or property acquisition
2. Planning and feasibility studies
3. Engineering Plan & Design
4. Construction Cost including material, labour and equipment
5. Field supervision of Construction
6. Construction financing
7. Owner’s General Office Overhead
8. Insurances and taxes during construction
9. Inspection and Testing
  Operational Cost :
1. Land rent, if applicable
2. Staff Salaries
3. Utilities
4. Maintenance and repairs
5. Rent and hire charges
6. General and administrative expenses

*** What does a Construction Cost covers and what does not?

A construction cost covers material, labour, equipment and services, contractor’s

overhead and profit and direct construction costs. While it does not cover
compensation paid to the architect, consultant or engineers, cost of the land and
other cost that is owner’s responsibility.

*** What are different types of Bills?

1. First and Final Bill: A single payment is to be made on the completion of the
whole work or supply as final payment. Generally adopted for petty works or
split up works in a project.
2. Running Account Bill: Monthly bill against work done, it can be
measured/unmeasured.
3. Lump sum Contract Bill: In L.S contract method, a single 'lump sum' price for
all the works is agreed before the works begin.
A lump-sum contract is a great contract agreement to be used if the requested
work is well-defined and construction drawings are completed. The lump-sum
agreement will reduce owner risk, and the contractor has greater control over
profit expectations.

*** What are different types of Payments?

1. First and Final Payment

2. Running Account Payment
3. Final Payment
4. Advance Payment
5. Secured Advance: Made on the security of materials bought by the contractor
to the site work.

*** What are the issues in RA Bill?

There are mainly two types of issue

1. Commercial Issue: It includes statutory compliance, taxation,… etc

2. Progressive Issue: All progress and execution related issues like bad quality
work, delaying in completion, holds due to progress related issues etc.

*** What is BOQ?

 A Bill of Quantity is a document which lists all the necessary items for the
complete construction work. Each items includes a description and quantity.

First we need to calculate detailed quantities of each item. Then we need to

analyse rates of each item and put those in a standard format against respective
item.

*** What are the different types of drawing you see on a construction
project?

There are four types we normally come across.

1. Tender Drawings
2. RFC/IFC Drawings
3. Shop Drawings for Pre-fabricated materials
4. As built drawing

*** What is QMS – Quality Management System?

A Quality Management System is defined as a formalized system that documents

processes, procedures and responsibilities for achieving Quality policies and
objectives. A QMS helps coordinate and direct an organization’s activities to meet
customer and regulatory requirements and improve its effectiveness and efficiency
on a continuous basis.

The main purpose of QMS is:

1. Improving process
2. Reducing waste
3. Lowering cost
4. Setting a wide direction for the organization
5. & overall it’s helps the organization to meet the customer & regulatory
requirements.

*** What are the differences between QA and QC?

1. Quality Assurance is a set of activities for ensuring quality in the process by

which products are developed, while Quality Control is a set of activities for
ensuring quality in products. The activities focus on identifying defects in the
actual products produced.
2. QA aims to prevent defects while QC aims to identifying and correct defects in
finished product.
3. QA is a managerial tool & QC is a corrective tool.
4. QA is process oriented & QC is product oriented.

*** Describe Water Cement Ratio.

The Water Cement Ratio is the ratio of the weight of the water to the weight of
cement used in a concrete mix. A lower ratio leads to higher strength and durability
but may the mix difficult to work with and firm.

As per IS standard the water cement ration in between 0.4 to 0.6 are being
considered as workable.

*** Bulking of Sand and its effect?

The increase of moisture in sand increases the volume of sand. The moisture
content actually create a thin layer around sand particles which results in the
increase of volume of sand. It has been seen for a moisture content percentage of
5% to 8% there will be an increase of volume upto 20% to 40%. If the sand is more
fine there will be more increase in volume. This phenomenon is called Bulking of
Sand.

Bulking of sand is ZERO, when the sand is completely dry. If bulkage observed in
sand, further addition of water causes the particle around the sand to break and thus
the volume of sand get reduced. When the quantity of water in sand becomes more
than 20% or the sand is fully immersed in water its volume become the same as that
of dry sand.

 Impacts of Bulking of Sand:

1. The volume of sand will be increased, therefore more sand should add
while batching of concrete.
2. It will affect the volumetric mix proportion of concrete.
3. Due to the surface moisture, there is a chance for honeycomb formation in
concrete.
4. The concrete will lose its strength.
5. The concrete seems to stony and it may prone to segregation.
6. Sand having moisture content less than 5% should be preferred for
construction.

*** Laboratory Test for Bulking of Sand.

Apparatus

250ml measuring cylinder, Weighing balance, Fine aggregate

Procedure

1. Take 500 grams of fine aggregate over dried at a temperature of 100 to 110
degree Celsius for 24 ± 0.5 hours. This weight is measured as W1

2. The cooled sand is taken in an airtight container. This weight is measured as W2.

3. The water content of the sample is calculated as Wc = (W1-W2)x 100/W1 Eq.1

 5. In a pan, 250 grams of sand is taken
6. To this 2% by weight of water is added. This is properly mixed
7. The mixture is poured into a 250ml cylinder. This is consolidated by shaking
8. The surface is leveled. The reading is measured as Y1.
9. The test is repeated for the remaining quantity of sand for 2% water by weight
each time. The readings are taken as Y2, Y3…..etc until a decreasing reading
of the volume is observed.
10. After this level, 4% water is added and the test is continued until the sample
become fully saturated.
11. To the standard sample in the measuring cylinder, add about 50 ml water ore
and stir the sample well.
12. Note down the surface level of inundated sand (Y ml).Calculations
Percentage Bulking of Sand = (Y1-Y)x100/Y

*** Field Test for Bulking of Sand.

Field test determines the necessary adjustment required for bulking of fine
aggregates

Apparatus

1. 250ml measuring cylinder

2. Fine aggregate
Procedure

1. Pour the sand into 250 ml measuring cylinder up to the 200 ml mark.
2. Fill the cylinder with water and stir well (sufficient water should be poured to
submerge the sand completely and it can be seen that the sand surface is
now below its original level)
3. Take the reading at the sand surface (Y ml)
Calculations
Percentage Bulking of Sand = [(200/Y)- 1] x100