One of AECOM’s best kept secrets is our UK based research and innovation lab. Operating as part of the wider Asset Management team, the UKAS accredited laboratory has a wide array of research and testing capabilities, specialising in pavement, rail track, construction materials and asset management.
It offers a complete package of services that span the full lifecycle of transportation infrastructure. With over 35 years of field and laboratory research, the team’s work is regularly used to inform and develop national policies and often contributes to evolving design standards and specifications.
The laboratory offers both in-house and on-site testing capabilities, the latter of which includes visual surveys, intrusive and non-intrusive testing with material sampling, and the creation of asset inventory and condition databases.
Sustainable materials development
The laboratory conducts different tests and experiments to enable more sustainable material development, such as the Low Rolling Resistance Asphalt Mixtures (LRRAM) trial for National Highways. In this trial, the first of its kind in the UK, we evaluated the performance of LRRAM and the potential for these new materials to support the English road authority improve air quality across their network.
Our team’s work in this area covers the full project lifecycle, from assessment and design to optimisation, modification and final specification.
Materials engineering
From our on-site pavement investigation operations, the team investigate and examine material samples from roads, airfields and rail trackbed to understand performance and failure mechanisms which in turn inform necessary maintenance strategies and/or rehabilitation and strengthening requirements. We recover thousands of material samples each year, from all over the world.
Our team can explore how different types of pavement surfaces and foundations fare in extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves or snow. We have assessed, designed and produced specifications for climate resilient asphalt surfacing for clients such as Airport Authority Hong Kong, Defence Infrastructure Organisation and Transport for London.
Informing National Highways’ guidelines
We have collaborated on a number of research projects for both industry and asset owners, where our laboratory testing has played a large role. One notable example is the National Highways Concrete Pavement Maintenance Manual. The manual was the first of its kind created in over 20 years and features our road surface testing facilities. We tested several road samples to investigate the ways in which concrete material deteriorates, and our work has informed National Highways’ pavement maintenance guidance.
Road surface testing
We also have the unique capability to test road surfaces and materials, using our Mobile Load Simulator which replicates tens of thousands of hours of vehicle journeys in a single day on a surface, giving results on how that piece of infrastructure might perform in the long term, informing deterioration models and lifecycle planning for our clients. This is the only one of these machines in the UK and is used to test innovative surfacing solutions on major roads such as the M25.
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