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Scala Penetrometer Kits and Accessories

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Scala Penetrometer Kit

Scala Penetrometer Kit includes:

Handle 
Drop Weight 
Guide rod    
Anvil
Probe rod 
Cone
Bag

Extension rods are also available in different lengths from 800mm to 1.6M.

Probe rods and extension rods are numbered in sequence, so users do not need to have a tape measure for testing.
All our Scala rods have graduations marked on them.

The Scala Penetrometer offers users these main advantages:
  • Inexpensive: $449 for a basic 1M kit.
  • Very Portable: total weight less than 15Kg
  • Quick: testing takes a few minutes
  • Versatile: Can penetrate down to 5 metres or more with extension rods
  • Correlates with CBR. This saves users from requiring laboratory testing

Accessories and Spares
Select individual parts for your custom kit, or spares from the detailed price list.
A variety of extra-long probe rods are also available, from 1.2M to 1.6M, for quick testing without adding extra rods.

Scala Parts Price List

Scala Extractor

Penetrometer parts can be saved from unnecessary wear if operators use a penetrometer extractor instead of using the weight to back-hammer the probe out of the ground.
The Scala Penetrometer Extractor:
  •  pays for itself by reducing time spent on the job
  •  lots of leverage takes the strain out of extraction
  •  reduces breakages
  •  eliminates back strain
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A peek into our workshop located 
in Onehunga.

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SERVICING

Technical Background and References

Useful Technical Information

We service and support all the equipment we sell.
When it is practical, we will get a damaged Scala kit back into service as cheaply as possible by straightening rods, getting broken thread out of handles, loosening seized-up rods and anvils etc.
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The Scala Penetrometer was developed by A. J. Scala, who presented his first paper at the Second Australia-New Zealand Soil Mechanics Conference in 1956. His aim was to develop a simple in-situ test for pavement subgrade which would have good correlation with California Bearing Ratio, CBR.

Since then this test method has become very popular: the Country Roads Board (Victoria) in Australia produced Test Method CRB 402.01, and Standards New Zealand produced NZS 4402 Test 6.5.2:1998. 

In addition the Building Research Association of New Zealand Information Bulletin 212, Feb 1979 explains the use of the Scala Penetrometer to establish whether the safe bearing pressure of the soil under a light building is adequate. This paper is based on the work of M. J. Stockwell from the Christchurch City Council, reported in his article Determination of Allowable Bearing Pressure Under Small Structures published in NZ Engineering, June 1977. 

The result of all this work is that the Scala Penetrometer is now widely used in foundation checking for small buildings and in road construction. The initial research focused on clays and silty clays but further work has extended its usefulness to sands as well.

Building Research Association (BRANZ) Guide to the Use of a Scala Penetrometer

NZS 4402 Test 6.5.2:1998  ​
​
NZS 3604:2011 3.3 Test Method for Soil Bearing Capacity

Scala to CBR Conversion:
scala_to_cbr_country_roads.pdf
File Size: 50 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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P: 09 634 1509
​E: enquiry@groundtest.co.nz
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​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Calibration
  • Equipment
    • Aggregates
    • Soil Properties
    • Concrete & Cement
    • Asphalt & Bitumen
    • Soil & Rock Mechanics
    • General Lab
    • Universal Testers
  • NDMS
    • Nuclear Density Meters >
      • Troxler Models
    • NDM Shipping
    • NDM Training
  • Hire
  • Documents
  • CONTACT US
    • Meet the Team