Ireland’s largest independent construction materials testing laboratory, BHP Laboratories, recently installed a state-of-the-art concrete testing facility, which has been fully operational since September 2019.
Resurgence in construction industry
BHP Laboratories has been at the cutting edge of concrete quality assurance testing since 1978. And, with the recent resurgence in the construction industry, the company has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of customers seeking concrete quality assurance and testing services.
This new facility and the automation of BHP’s handling process - along with investment in new testing machines - has increased capacity to 500 concrete cubes per day.
As part of the investment, BHP introduced a new automated reporting system for their concrete cube testing service. While, traditionally, 99% of reports were finished within three days of tests taking place, the new facility and ongoing improvements have allowed it to improve efficiency levels so that 100% of reports can now be issued within 24 hours of tests taking place.
Cylinder and concrete beam tests
The Materials Laboratory is fronted up by James Purcell, service manager, and Seamus O’Connell, technical manager. The new facility has been inspected and approved by the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) and BHP’s experienced technicians have the capacity to perform concrete cube, aggregate masonry block, cylinder and concrete beam tests.
The long-established, customer-orientated testing provider operates a fleet of more than 20 vehicles, which allows it to provide site testing and concrete collection services nationwide.
All collections of samples from customers’ sites throughout Ireland are included free of charge and BHP is always on hand to ensure that samples are collected and tested within required/designated time periods.
The company operates in two key areas: the first of these is Material Testing Inspections (MTI), which focus on concrete quality control, the materials laboratory (for soil, aggregates, bitumen, etc.); geotechnical site investigation; structural assessments; and metal and plastic weld testing.
Second, the Analytical Chemistry (AC) laboratory specialises in providing a whole range of services to the water, environmental, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing industries in Ireland.
Pioneering and progressive
Last year saw tremendous investment from the pioneering, progressive, Limerick-based, family-run laboratory, which also opened a new elemental impurities testing facility for the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.
BHP Laboratories also provides a comprehensive suite of structural investigation and Geotechnical site investigation services, providing both on-site sampling and analysis and in-house testing in its laboratory.
The testing provided by BHP may be required as part of a project’s specifications or conditional use permit or to establish compliance with local codes and ordinances. Using precision measurement equipment, all services can be provided on either a one-off or ongoing basis.
Generating direct employment for 55 people (with strong expertise in engineering and science disciplines), BHP has 42 years’ experience in giving customers an uncompromising, personalised and prompt service, with measurements they can trust.
The business is constantly moving and evolving, always with a view to giving the customer the most accurate information possible because they are relying on this information to make decisions that are critical to their businesses.