AMRL Moving to Frederick, Maryland
This Fall marks a change for the AASHTO Materials Reference Laboratory (AMRL) as we prepare to relocate our facilities to Frederick, Maryland. The move will provide the AMRL with improved office, laboratory, and proficiency sample preparation facilities so that we can continue to provide excellent service to our customers for years to come. Read More 
Mercury Thermometer Poll Results
By Maria Knake, Program Manager for Training and Technical Services
In an article on liquid-in-glass thermometers featured in the Spring 2011 edition of AMRL in Focus we asked readers to let us know how often they use mercury thermometers in their laboratory. Here is what our readers had to say... Read More
New Tools for Specifiers: the Missing Piece of the Accreditation Puzzle
By Mike Adkins, Laboratory Assessor
A specifier is any entity that requires laboratory testing to be performed by an agency that participates in one or more of AMRL’s programs. Specifiers can include Departments of Transportation, local municipalities, or even corporate offices that manage several branch laboratories. Read More
A Very Boring Article
(New Requirements for Superpave Gyratory Compactor Molds)
By Maria Knake, Program Manager for Training and Technical Services
AASHTO T 312, Preparing and Determining the Density of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Specimens by Means of the Superpave Gyratory Compactor, was modified in 2011 to include some new requirements for specimen molds.Read More
How to Publicize Your AASHTO Accreditation
and Bree Johnson, Laboratory Assessor
Participation in the AASHTO Accreditation Program (AAP) is a great way for a laboratory to show its commitment to quality in construction materials testing. It can also be used as a means to expand a commercial laboratory’s range of business opportunities. Read More
Under Pressure
By Amanda Moser, Assistant Program Supervisor
We experience pressure every day. Feeling the wind on your face, drinking through a straw, even sitting in your chair all give you sensations of pressure. So why can pressure be such a confusing concept to apply to laboratory testing? Read More
Let’s Get Digital: A Guide to Unraveling the Tangled World of Digital Thermometers
By Maria Knake, Program Manager for Training and Technical Services
So, You’re Looking to Buy a Digital Thermometer?
I’ve got just the device for you: It slices! It dices! It even calibrates itself! Joking aside, purchasing a digital thermometer for your laboratory can be a difficult task. There are numerous choices available, with prices ranging from just a few bucks to thousands of dollars. So, which one of these devices is right for you? Read More
Did You Know?
By Matt Bluman, Laboratory Assessor
Some tips, tricks and interesting facts to make life in the testing laboratory just a little bit easier. Read More
The Road to Developing an Effective Quality Management System (QMS):
Part 1 - Why Bother?
By Tracy Barnhart, Quality & Information Manager
Why Bother? It seems like a lot of work for nothing.
Ease up on those brakes! Developing an effective QMS does require precious time and resources, but the benefits will far outweigh the work involved when the procedures and processes are followed and continually improved. An organization can benefit from developing and implementing an effective QMS in many ways. Here are some of the best... Read More