For steel-wheeled rollers, what is the typical weight range required on tandem drum rollers and the minimum pressure per inch of roller width?

• A. 8-12 tons on tandem drum rollers; minimum 250 lbs of pressure per inch of roller width
• B. 5-8 tons; minimum 150 lbs per inch
• C. 12-16 tons; minimum 300 lbs per inch
• D. 10-12 tons; minimum 200 lbs per inch

Answer: (A)

On steel-wheeled rollers, achieving proper pavement compaction depends on having enough weight to produce the necessary kneading and static pressure, but not so much that you risk over-compaction or damage. For tandem drum rollers, a practical working range is about 8 to 12 tons per roller. To account for different roller widths and ensure a reliable pressure across the entire contact area, a minimum of roughly 250 pounds per inch of roller width is used. This combination tends to give good density and surface finish without crushing aggregates or causing other issues.

The other options either propose weights that are too light or too heavy, or pressures that don’t align with typical field practice, so they wouldn’t consistently deliver the desired compaction results.