Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the New York State Department of Transportation and the Office of General Services (OGS) have broken ground on a $150.5 million project to build a consolidated, cutting-edge materials testing facility for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) at the W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus in Albany. This state-of-the-art Central Testing Laboratory will replace NYSDOT’s outdated and undersized, 60-plus-year-old facilities with an expanded complex that will increase the NYSDOT’s ability to sustainably test and certify that the products and materials used on New York’s roads and bridges are safe and can withstand the challenges of the 21st century. The new laboratory, estimated for completion in fall 2029, will help NYSDOT fulfill its mission to provide all New Yorkers with a safe and reliable transportation network.
“The New York State Department of Transportation is a national leader in the deployment of reliable and adaptable materials on our roads and bridges, and this testing facility plays a major role in these efforts,” Governor Hochul said. “We are investing more in our state’s infrastructure than at any other time in our history, the foundation of which begins with a laboratory that has the testing capacity to certify that the materials the Department uses are the safest and most dependable products in the nation. This new facility will also ensure that New York State remains an innovative leader in developing and utilizing sustainable transportation materials on our roads and bridges, which will in turn increase resiliency throughout the state’s highway system.”
NYSDOT’s Central Testing Laboratory performs approximately 100,000 tests each year, evaluating the chemical, physical and performance properties of the thousands of materials used on transportation projects in New York State. An accredited central state laboratory is required by the Federal Highway Administration and is a cornerstone of NYSDOT’s robust construction and materials quality assurance program. The laboratory tests ensure that all materials used meet state and federal quality and performance standards…