FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:             NIST 94-22
May 18, 1994

Contact:  Jan Kosko                NEW FACILITY OPENS AS
          (301) 975-2767           PART OF 65-YEAR-OLD
                                   PARTNERSHIP TO IMPROVE
                                   QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION
                                   MATERIALS

     Government and construction industry officials today
dedicated a new facility at the National Institute of Standards
and Technology to help improve the quality of construction
materials testing.

     The new facility is part of the Construction Materials
Reference Laboratories, sponsored jointly by NIST, the American
Society for Testing and Materials, and the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials.  It was
constructed to keep up with the growing demand for samples of
building materials, such as concrete, cement, soil and asphalt.
The CMRL supplies the samples to construction materials testing
laboratories to help evaluate testing equipment and procedures.

     Currently, NIST distributes over 8,000 samples annually to
more than 1,000 laboratories in the United States, Canada, Mexico
and 14 other countries.  The CMRL also provides an on-site
inspection program to construction materials testing laboratories
for evaluating test equipment and procedures.

     "Quality of construction materials is vital to the well-
being of both people and the economy," says James Pielert,
manager of the CMRL.  "Inadequate testing can lead to good
materials being rejected, poor materials being accepted,
construction delays and even structural failures.  Reliable
measurements can help assure that building materials are up to
standards and can help reduce the costs associated with poor
quality materials."

     NIST and ASTM initially established the Cement and Concrete
Reference Laboratory in 1929 to help cement-testing laboratories
improve and standardize both their equipment and methods.  Over
the years, the CCRL program has expanded to include laboratories
that test other building materials.  In 1965, AASHTO established
the AASHTO Materials Reference Laboratory and joined ASTM as a
co-sponsor of the CMRL program.  Fees from laboratories
participating in the CCRL and AMRL programs were used to provide
funding for the new facility.

     "It's been a great relationship," says Pielert.  "Everybody
benefits.  Through reliable testing, both users and manufacturers
of building materials have greater assurance that a product meets
certain standards.  Also, standards developers, such as ASTM and
AASHTO, get feedback from industry and lots of data to help them
evaluate their test methods."

     For information on the new facility or the CMRL, contact
Pielert at (301) 975-6704.

     A non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's
Technology Administration, NIST promotes economic growth by
working with industry to develop and apply technology,
measurement and standards.

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