The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology – through South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport – has granted funds for the construction of a laboratory project at the Techo Sen Institute of Public Works and Transport for the development of road construction and management systems. The total budget is more than $3,200,000 for the three-year project from 2020 to 2023. According to a press release from the Techo Sen institute on August 16, the building will have two stories and cover an area of 18m by 25m. Construction will break ground on August 16. The laboratory will research and test road materials and train engineers and senior technical officers at the institute. The building will contain asphalt and concrete test labs, curing and storage rooms as well as office space. Funds amounting to $580,000 have been allocated for construction with a scheduled completion date in March 2022. The grant will be used to develop road quality assessment tools, provide construction technology laboratories for raw material, research and testing, automatic road investigation vehicles for collecting quality data on roads, road management software, and technical training on road infrastructure. The project will also improve road infrastructure construction through training that will strengthen road management systems, develop construction technology and improve cooperation between the two countries on road infrastructure. According to the press release, the institute has 191 students in its first class. They have been studying infrastructure, transport and logistics systems, waste water management and economics. Hoeurn Somnieng, director-general of the Techo Sen institute, said the laboratory will assist in optimising the construction of road infrastructure and fill in certain gaps in this sector. He said the lab would play a key role in researching and identifying materials needed for road construction, including stone, sand and gravel. “This building is for researching and inspecting the quality of the raw materials related to road construction. Where can we get raw materials? What is its quality? These are our main goals. Another one is a place where students can research and experiment,” he said. However, he added that experiments in this facility will be different to public enterprises. The research of raw materials as well as other findings will be related to conditions in the road sector unique to Cambodia. Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol advised the technical council and builders of the laboratory to construct a research and experiment facility that will benefit future Cambodians.