SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois transportation leaders cut the ribbon on a new Illinois Department of Transportation Materials Testing and Research Center. The facility is aimed at ensuring the materials used on roads and bridges hold up through extreme heat, harsh winters and heavy traffic.
"This really impressive facility really keeps not only IDOT, but Illinois on the forefront of transportation research," said IDOT Secretary Gia Biagi. “We invest about a billion and a half every year in materials alone. So we’ve got to get it right. It’s got to be high quality."
Inside the facility, engineers and other IDOT employees push potential materials to their breaking point. This includes freezing and thawing asphalt and pulling metal beams apart with advanced machinery.
“This facility is responsible for approving all the materials used in highway construction throughout the state,” said Brian Pfeifer, Engineer of Materials at IDOT. "We will test samples from across the state, a variety of samples like asphalt and concrete, component materials, and basically make sure that they're an acceptable quality."
Another way they test materials for roads is through a machine that pushes a wheel over a piece of road thousands of times. This allows the team at IDOT to determine how much the roads can be put through before they start to have ruts.
"Illinois has always been a leader in the field of materials testing," said Roger Driskell, Executive Director of the Associated General Contractors of Illinois. "The new lab places the state and our industry at the forefront of innovation once again and for many more years to come."
The new facility is located next to the current IDOT facilities on South Dirksen Parkway. It cost $63 million to build.
Copyright 2026. WAND TV. All rights reserved.
