Quantifying emulsified asphalt-based chip seal curing times using electrical properties

A System for determining moisture content in an emulsified asphalt-aggregate system, comprising:

• a first electrode adaptable to be placed in an emulsified asphalt-aggregate system (Mixture) at a first depth;
• a second electrode adaptable to be placed in the Mixture at a second depth;
• an alternating current (AC) source adaptable to provide an AC signal between the first electrode and the second electrode at a plurality of frequencies;
• an impedance measurement device adaptable to measure impedance between the first electrode and the second electrode, the impedance comprising of a real component representing resistance between the first electrode and the second electrode and an imaginary component representing capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode;
• a processing unit configured to:
• A) determine the frequency which yields the minimum measured impedance,
• B) record the minimum measured impedance,
• C) repeat steps A-B at a predetermined time interval until the recorded minimum measured impedance is about 10 times of the first recorded minimum measured impedance, and
• D) alert a user that the Mixture has sufficiently cured.