Cooper acquires American Dream

UK-based Cooper Research Technology has expanded into the US with the acquisition of James Cox & Sons, of Colfax, California in September 2012, and the appointment of US asphalt expert Dr Geoffrey Rowe as a non-executive director. Cox and Cooper are a good fit culturally. Both firms were founded by inventors – Jim Cox and Keith Cooper – and both are built on strong links with academia: Cox with UC Berkeley and Cooper with NTEC at Nottingham University. “It is the joint intention to be a customer focused bus
January 3, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
UK-based 5941 Cooper Technology has expanded into the US with the acquisition of James Cox & Sons, of Colfax, California in September 2012, and the appointment of US asphalt expert Dr Geoffrey Rowe as a non-executive director.

Cox and Cooper are a good fit culturally. Both firms were founded by inventors – Jim Cox and Keith Cooper – and both are built on strong links with academia: Cox with UC Berkeley and Cooper with NTEC at 4813 Nottingham University.

“It is the joint intention to be a customer focused business. We listen and we care,” said Cooper. “The Cox and Cooper approach is to first establish customer requirements and then to offer best advice on the options available in order that customers can make informed decisions. We will pride ourselves on working in partnership with customers rather than just order taking.”

Dr Rowe will strengthen the expertise of the business, working alongside research director Andrew Cooper. Dr Rowe is a member of the US Expert Task Group on asphalt binders and teaches asphalt materials at 3986 New Jersey Institute of Technology. With over 50 publications to his name, he is currently leading several research efforts on the performance of materials and the development of specifications.

Now Cooper, through Cox, is poised to start manufacture of the first commercially available Texas Overlay Tester (TOT). Designed to simulate the expansion and contraction movements that occur near cracks or joints and which result in reflection cracking in overlays, the TOT performs the test according to the draft ASTM method, soon to be published in its final form.

“At present there is nobody manufacturing these machines commercially,” said Andrew Cooper. “The only machines in existence are in DoTs or universities in the US.”

The TOT allows users to characterise both the crack initiation and crack propagation properties of asphalt mixtures. Though the original machine was developed in the 1970s, the current appetite in the US for simple tests that allow easy comparisons between mixtures is driving the TOT’s popularity.

“Some people have attempted to perform the test in UTMs or the SPT, but I believe that dedicated equipment is easier to operate and produces more accurate results,” said Andrew Cooper.
Asphalt milling, paving & compaction

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Training as well as test equipment is a must for emerging markets
    April 27, 2015
    Emerging markets, such as North and East Africa, are developing an appetite for materials testing equipment, but suppliers need to provide expertise and training as well as a broad range of machines, as Kristina Smith finds out Asking what sort of testing equipment is required for Africa is a little bit like asking what sort of food Europeans like to eat. The answer is that requirements vary enormously from the most basic and ancient of tests to the very cutting edge of dynamic testing. “You have some
    Read More
  • Using aspahlt testing equipment improves efficiency
    May 28, 2013
    From density tests on a Mongolian gold mine project to an all-singing, all-dancing asphalt tester, Kristina Smith reports on some of the latest new products in materials testing. Perhaps understandably, nuclear density gauges can present contractors with some order to move them at all. “One of the problems with nuclear soil gauges is the restrictions on movement,” said John Lamond, Manufacturing. “If you are a contractor projects cross-border, it’s a real challenge to move a nuclear density gauge around.”
    Read More
  • Advances in materials testing
    April 10, 2012
    Quicker, better, more cost effective materials testing - Kristina Smith writes. Most developments in materials testing technology involve updating and upgrading existing machines, either to meet changes to standards or to satisfy new needs in the market. And occasionally, a manufacturer will come up with something completely new. PUMA - the precision unbound materials analyser - falls into the latter category. It has been developed by Cooper Research Technology and Nottingham Transportation Engineering Cen
    Read More
  • Technology makes materials testing quicker and easier
    February 14, 2012
    Sophisticated technology is now being used to make the testing of a wide variety of materials quicker and easier as Patrick Smith reports. Ever since the CE mark became mandatory for asphalt mixes, it also became necessary and important to update the testing equipment and systems used for testing such materials.
    Read More

Highlighted Content