SANRAL (South African National Roads Agency), the University of Pretoria (UP) and CSIR have agreed on the development of an Integrated Education, National Certification, National Reference and Research Laboratories Facility. The objective is to ensure maximum co-operation between the parties in order to create the critical mass in laboratory facilities and human resources to address the above challenges efficiently and avoid further erosion of current remaining skills. This will enhance the quality and quantity of the outputs as well as avoid costly duplication of laboratory facilities.

The facility will be housed in the newly developed Engineering 4.0 facility, and will consist of the SANRAL National Road Materials Reference Laboratory, SANRAL Training laboratory, an Accelerated Pavement Testing facility, an Active traffic track and an upgraded Concrete research laboratory. The facility also provides for a small reception and auditorium area, with following phases focusing on expansion of the laboratory to other Civil Engineering disciplines, as well as related disciplines.

The vision with the facility is to provide an internationally renowned platform for academic and vocational training support in transportation infrastructure materials testing, a national transportation materials reference testing platform and high quality research facilities and skilled staff.