Technology to increase testing accuracy, enhance road quality

7th August 2015 By: Mia Breytenbach - Creamer Media Deputy Editor: Features

Technology to increase testing accuracy, enhance road quality

VERSATILE ABILITY The Corelok measures the gravity of asphalt

To assist the civil engineering and roads industry in attaining accurate asphalt testing results to provide quality roads, Pretoria-based laboratory equipment supplier Reliance Laboratory Equipment aims to provide the latest technology in the testing of asphalt.

“South Africa should be the benchmark for African roads,” stresses Reliance Laboratory Equipment MD Tim Saks, reiterating a company belief that “to conquer the road, you have to master the asphalt”.

Saks emphasises the need for testing technology that will reduce testing time while achieving accurate results and reducing human error.

Reliance Laboratory Equipment offers a range of products for on-site and laboratory tests on bitumen, asphalt, cement, concrete, aggregates, rock, soil, mortar and steel for the construction and civil engineering industry. These products will be highlighted at the 2015 Conference on Asphalt Pavements for Southern Africa (Capsa), which will take place from August 16 to 19 at Sun City, in North West.

Key products to be highlighted at the conference include the asphaltanalysator – an analyser used for the extraction and determination of binder content in rubber- modified bituminous mixtures using nonflammable solvents such as trichloroethylene.

“The asphaltanalysator, manufactured by Germany-based asphalt and civil engineering testing technology manufacturer InfraTest, was first launched locally earlier this year,” Saks notes.

The extraction and distillation of the analyser’s testing method is computer controlled and uses Linux software.

“Every extraction step can be followed on the large intuitive understandable touch panel,” he says, pointing out that the user can program and store their own test sequences to have an optimal extraction for every kind of asphalt mix.

Other products to be showcased by Reliance Laboratory Equipment at Capsa include the CoreLok, which is manufactured by US-based materials testing equipment manufacturer InstroTek. The CoreLok is a significantly versatile testing system that measures the bulk specific gravity and maximum specific gravity of asphalt.

“The CoreLok also measures the apparent specific gravity, absorption and bulk specific gravity of fine and coarse aggregates,” says Saks adding that the GravitySuite software can be used to calculate and manage the results.