C25W - Working Group for Guide for Soil Thermal Resistivity Measurements – IEEE 442

The purpose of this guide is to provide sufficient information to enable the user to select useful commercial test equipment, or to manufacture equipment which is not readily available on the market, and to make meaningful resistivity measurements with this equipment. Measurements may be made in the field or in the laboratory on soil samples or both. If the native soil is to be tamped back into the trench at the same density at which it was removed, it may be desirable to make in-situ resistivity measurements along the route of the cable. If the native soil is to be placed in the trench at a density different than undisturbed soil in the same vicinity, laboratory measurements are required on soil samples recompacted to the desired density. In order to draw meaningful comparisons on selected foreign backfill materials, thermal resistivity measurements should be made in the laboratory on soils which are compacted so as to provide maximum dry densities