The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has unveiled a new engineering materials testing laboratory in Port Elizabeth.
The new facility, which would also serve as a training hub, enabled Sanral to test the properties of construction materials used in road maintenance activities and the development and upgrading of the national roads.
“Through this initiative, we will be able to ensure that remote site material lab are compliant with the quality management standards similar to what is required for the accreditation of a materials testing labs through the South African National Accreditation System,” said Sanral southern region materials specialist Sean Strydom in a statement on Thursday.
“The accuracy of test results has a significant impact on whether we accept or reject the quality of work in our efforts to deliver roads that are in line with international standards,” he said, adding that the laboratory could be used as an assessment centre for the new materials testing qualification, which was currently under development, with sponsorships from the Southern African Bitumen Association and Sanral.
The new engineering materials laboratory comprised testing facilities to determine the properties of soils and gravel, asphalt, concrete and bituminous binders and had been equipped with a Dynamic Shear Rheometer.
Sanral would also be able to conduct oxygen permeability, water absorptivity and chloride conductivity tests on high durability concrete.
“In terms of geotechnical testing, drained and undrained triaxle testing on undisturbed or reconstituted samples will be of huge assistance in the monitoring of potentially unstable slopes along the national road network in the region,” Strydom noted.
The facility was currently training 26 engineering graduates on a three-year in-house experiential training programme, which would assist them to be able to register as professional engineers.