New Materials Laboratory For Costain
10 May 2010
Costain Geotechnical Services* has recently opened
a new laboratory and site testing operation in Cheadle Hulme,
Greater Manchester.
The laboratory is staffed by 11 technicians led by Nathan Busby,
the Laboratory Manager and Rob Bell, Assistant Laboratory Manager.
This team has been working hard to establish the new laboratory
facilities and develop the Company's materials testing portfolio so
that it is better equipped for completing testing relevant to
highways investigations and the local market. This is part of a
larger plan for the expansion and focus of the Geotechnical
Services business as a whole.
The new laboratory is conveniently situated to serve all
locations within the north and north west, enabling Geotechnical
Services to offer a full materials testing service throughout the
UK. Currently the laboratory is completing materials testing
for Costain's MAC 7, 10 and 12 contracts as well as the
Greater Manchester Waste Department Authority, Bidston Moss and
various external clients. The new facility compliments the existing
northern geotechnical office based in Allerton Bywater, West
Yorkshire, as well as the main office and laboratory in Bourne End,
Buckinghamshire.
The Cheadle Hulme laboratory has recently become UKAS accredited
for a wide range of laboratory and in situ testing including
blacktop sampling and testing. The Company intends to continue this
expansion to include structural surveys, pavement surveys and
pavement engineering and design as well as falling weight
deflectometer capability in the near future.
Newly accredited testing capabilities for the laboratory include
the following:
Blacktop Testing: Coring, Core Logging, Surface Texture (Sand
Patch and Macrotexture), Rolling Straight Edge, Sampling from
Heaps, Sampling from Paver Augers, Temperature (Delivery Paver
Hopper, Rolling), Density (both Nuclear and Non Nuclear
Methods).
Laboratory Testing: Moisture Condition Value, Plastic Limit,
Liquid Limit, Optimum Moisture Content (BS Heavy, BS Light,
Vibrating Hammer), California Bearing Ratio, Concrete Curing,
Concrete Compression, Making Cubes (both Vibrating Table and Hand
Tamp Method).
This is in addition to the laboratory's existing testing
capabilities that include: Pull Out Testing, Particle Size
Distribution (BS and BS EN), Core Cutter Density, Plate Load
Testing, Dynamic Cone Penetrometer, Moisture Content (Oven Drying
Method), Slump Testing, Air Content of Concrete.
Within the next month the laboratory will also re-apply for UKAS
accreditation for covermeter surveys, Schmidt Hammer testing as
well as half cell potential and depth of carbonation in order to be
able to undertake full structural surveys of concrete bridges,
culverts etc.
* Costain Geotechnical Services provides a one-stop facility
for geotechnical and geo-environmental site investigation, in-situ
materials testing and geotechnical and materials laboratory
testing. Clients include engineering consultants,
specialist geo-environmental consultants, infrastructure and
utilities operators as well as the Costain Group.