Civil Engineering
MIKE STALLINGS, DEPARTMENT HEAD
The Department of Civil Engineering is home to a wide range of research activities ranging from hydraulics to geotechnical to structural to transportation engineering.
CONSTRUCTION COMPUTER LABORATORY
The Construction Computer Laboratory has 486DX IBM-compatible computers, large- and small-scale plotters, time-lapse still and video photographic equipment, plus an up-to-date library of software for project management, cost estimating, simulation, CAD, database, and scheduling.
Researchers use the laboratory to investigate public procurement policies, develop interactive project support systems for departments of transportation, and develop expert systems for construction claims.Students use the laboratory for class projects in simulation, estimating, and scheduling.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING LABORATORIES
In the Environmental Engineering Laboratories, researchers quantify environmental contaminants as they study the effects of heavy-metal toxicity on wastewater treatment, biological nutrient removal, anaerobic digester performance, biofouling of contaminated aquifers and extraction wells, ion exchange and sorption in soil columns, partitioning of immiscible organics in water, biodegradation of petroleum, pesticides, and TNT in soils and groundwater, wetland and sediment biogeochemistry, and river quality management.
Facilities include an environmental chamber. An atomic adsorption spectrophotometer, ion chromatograph, and ion analyzer quantify heavy-metal contaminants and inorganic nutrients. An organic carbon analyzer for liquid and soil sampling, gas chromatograph with a flame ionization detector and liquid sample concentrator, and a high-pressure liquid chromatograph quantify organic contaminants. A mass spectrophotometer identifies and quantifies unknown organic contaminants and treatment byproducts, and a particle sizer and zeta meter analyze particulate contaminants. Fluorescent and light microscopes, autoclaves, and incubators identify and quantify microbial contaminants.
GEOTECHNICAL LABORATORIES
Geotechnical Laboratories include an undergraduate laboratory with equipment to run routine soil tests such as classification, compaction, CBR, unconfined compression, permeability, and dispersion, and a graduate laboratory with equipment to run advanced and detailed tests such as triaxial and direct shear, and consolidation. In-situ equipment includes a standard penetration test, Iowa borehole shear test, and dynamic cone. The laboratory has a power auger for earth-drilling.
Using a liquefaction tank instrumented for pore and total pressure measurements, the Geotechnical Group is researching pile capacity and soil liquefaction around piles.
HYDRAULICS LABORATORY
The Hydraulics Laboratory facilities are in the Wilmore Laboratory and the Harbert Engineering Center. The Wilmore Laboratory, which has a small crane, is used for occasional, self-contained, short-term research such as the preliminary testing of field equipment, and for undergraduate instruction.
Research on solving highway storm water and bridge hydraulics problems is done with computer programs from the Harbert Engineering Center's software library. Digital editing of videotape is being developed for instructional use, with later applications planned for extension and research.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH LABORATORY
The Structural Engineering Research Laboratory consists of the Large-scale Testing Laboratory and the Structural Dynamics Laboratory. The Large-scale Testing Laboratory has a 10-ton overhead crane, a two-universal testing system for static and dynamic loading, and peripheral load actuators that can be placed in any configuration. The reinforced concrete reaction floor has tie-down/anchor fixtures on a 2-foot grid and is designed for a 5000-psf live load.
The Structural Dynamics Laboratory has a 2-ton overhead crane. Static or dynamic horizontal loadings can be applied against the massive concrete abutments at each end of the laboratory. Dynamic instrumentation includes vibrators, vibration meters, frequency counters, and a function generator. Data-acquisition systems include a portable 200-channel system for static measurements, and 40-channel 20,000 Hz dynamic systems.
SUBSURFACE RESTORATION LABORATORY
The multidisciplinary Subsurface Restoration Laboratory is in the Nuclear Science Center and includes faculty from the Departments of Agronomy and Soils, Botany and Microbiology, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Chemistry.
The laboratory has equipment to research subsurface contaminant transport and subsurface restoration problems. Experimental equipment includes a Lucite flow container with a dense array of fluid sample extraction ports for studies of aqueous phase contaminant transport inporous media. A glass and Teflon flow container is used in studies of nonaqueous phase liquid contaminant transport in porous media and studies on subsurface restoration problems. This flow container's special fume hood and exhaust duct and fan permit studies with dense chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents such as trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene. The laboratory also has two regular fume hoods and bench space for chemical analytical and other research.
TRANSPORTATION LABORATORY
Transportation research includes a study of the safety impact of median designs on vehicular and pedestrian traffic; an evaluation of stop signs at rail-highway grade crossings; and the development of a training course on highway safety appurtenances, a program on rail-highway safety, a textbook on pedestrian and bicycle transportation, and materials for a traffic engineering handbook. The transportation program sponsors technical seminars and distributes videotapes and publications.
Equipment includes standard traffic measuring devices (traffic counters, recorders, ball bank indicator); traffic signal controllers; surveying instruments (transit, theodolites, levels, total stationing); roadway design CADD software; and time-lapse still and video photographic equipment.
