INDEPENDENT INFRASTRUCTURE
TESTING
TESTING IS A CRUCIAL ASPECT OF EACH STEP IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF INFRASTRUCTURE, FROM RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT RIGHT THROUGH TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION. ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE SPEAKS WITH COFFEY TESTING TO FIND OUT WHY CONFORMANCE IS CRUCIAL FOR INNOVATION.
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tandards underpin every facet of infrastructure construction right through from the foundations to asset monitoring. To ensure the entire construction industry is building quality assets, whether a utility pipe or recycled glass sand is being used, product standards apply. As an innovative industry, road construction contractors and engineers are consistently looking for more sustainable, efficient, resourceful and cost-effective materials or processes. Independent testing is an essential tool
when it comes to the implementation of new products or designs. This can ensure anything new brought to market meets or exceeds standard expectations and will perform well in application. This is where independent construction materials evaluator Coffey Testing comes in. Any materials supplied for infrastructure projects such as roads, dams, airports or high-rise buildings must meet specification and can be tested by Coffey to prove conformance. In addition, the company can act as a trusted advisor for practical and cost-
Coffey Testing can evaluate materials for a range of infrastructure projects.
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ROADS NOVEMBER 2020
effective approaches to construction works. Whether the specifications are standard or are set by engineers on these projects, Coffey act as an independent verifying body to ensure the plans and subsequently the chosen materials meet requirements on projects. The company has been closely watching the emergence of recycled material initiatives for infrastructure builds, such as Recycled First in Victoria and NSW’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative, and has been developing its capabilities to meet the growing recycled material demand. Coffey Testing Laboratory Manager, Cameron Bik says the company do a range of testing for material specification work, stockpile performance, quarry material testing and more. “For example, we are really looking into rehabilitation of old pavement at the end of their service life, we are looking at ways to manipulate the original material with binders and other solutions to rejuvenate those materials to give it another lifecycle,” Bik says. “We already do a lot of work with quarries for recycled crushed concrete products. In the last six months we’ve worked on an asphalt project which is using recycled printer cartridges and tyres to produce their asphalt mixes.” Carl Witherspoon, Coffey Testing Technical Sales Manager, says recycled products or recycling initiatives are in some cases being weighted during the tender process. “Some projects are stipulating that a contractor must use a percentage of recycled materials, which makes testing ever more
