GMTS for affordable laboratory Services

SINCE its establishment as a civil engineering materials testing laboratory based in Ondangwa in April 2002, Global Materials Testing Services cc (GMTS) has offered laboratory services which are affordable, needoriented and reliable, supported by the firm’s expertise and technology.

GMTS is committed to quality service and are supportive of both the civil engineer as well as the contractor. “We insist on the honesty and transparency of the contractor and are totally against any form of corruption which we often find in our encounters with contractors,” says CEO, Mr Joshua (Joey) Johnson.

The laboratory serves clients on projects in northern and eastern Namibia and the coastal regions as well several provinces of Angola. GMTS offers the following services:
• Geotechnical surveys for structures and solid waste management

• Soils and borrow pit investigations for all civil works

• All control testing during construction of civil works – soils, concrete and bituminous

• Mix designs for concrete works and chemical stabilization

• Visual assessment of road pavements (surfaced and gravel roads)

• Traffic counting

• Assessment of foundation and other structural failures

• Training programmes in material testing for clients’ staff members. Global Materials Testing Services has state of the art laboratory equipment, none of which is more than six years old. All equipment meets international standards and calibrations are done annually by the South African Bureau of Standard’s Testing and Conformity Services, Apollo Scientific Services.

GMTS’s involvement in future strategically important projects are: Quality control of infrastructure for cement factories; labourbased gravel road projects; upgrading of roads in northern Namibia; and earthworks for Oshikango railway station of the northern railway line The staff of GMTS is a motivated and experienced team with a variety of qualifications and skills in the testing of civil engineering material as well as in geotechnical investigations and testing.

The testing team is lead by Mr Johnson who has more than 30 years experience in the field of civil engineering material testing. Except for the laboratory manager, Mr Johnson, all the other employees of Global Materials Testing Services are Namibians.

GMTS has a committed affirmative action policy. “We have four females in key administrative and technical positions and give in-house training to previously disadvantaged employees to enable them to fill more advanced positions in the company,” says Mr Johnson.

All technical reports are written by him as well as civil engineering technicians Wilhelmine Hamunyela and Rosa Shoombe, with support from local and South African experts. A very close liaison is maintained with foreign laboratories to ensure that GMTS is conversant with any new development in the testing industry and technologically.

“At the moment we are studying documents dealing with accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories SABS ISO/IEC 17025, as well as the accreditation of site laboratories. Our plans for accreditation are well under way,” says Mr Johnson.

GMTS’s clients include Bicon, Burmeister & Partners, Consulting Services Africa, Geomar Consult, Kleber & Associates, Lithon Project Consultants, Seelenbinder Consulting Engineers, Steinbach & Associates, Windhoek Consulting Engineers, WML Consulting Engineers, Afrideca, Basil Read Namibia, China Jiangsu International, China Nanjing International, China State Construction, Dumpco Services cc, EMS Contractors, Hero Construction, Le Bau cc, Levon Namibia, Namcon cc, New Era Investments, Nexus Civils, QE Construction, Tona Trade Holdings, Roads Authority of Namibia, Roads Contractor Company Limited (RCC) and Namwater.