Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

Geotechnical Mobile Lab

Thanks to a generous gift from Dwayne McAninch and McAninch Corporation, Iowa State has the first of its kind on-site soil engineering test facility in the United States.

The new Geotechnical Mobile Lab will help researchers conduct projects in Iowa and beyond. The lab will support research conducted through the Center for Transportation Research and Education's Partnership for Geotechnical Advancement (PGA) and our Geotechnical Engineering Division.

Vision for the Lab

Geotechnical construction projects will be built with specifications and processes that allow maximum effciency and creativity on the part of the contractor, use acceptance criteria that ensure responsible use of public funds, and maximize value by increasing the performance life of roadways.

Objectives for the lab

  1. Better understand the engineering properties of soils that relate to performance in highway construction and have a high degree of reliability for agencies and contractors.
  2. Improve earthwork construction quality and efficiency through the use of current and emerging construction equipment and intelligent construction technologies.
  3. Develop improved laboratory and field-testing technologies and procedures for verification testing.
  4. Test and field measure the properties of soils that relate to performance and use this knowledge to develop methods of quality control/quality assurance for geotechnical applications.
  5. Provide field training opportunities to contractors and public agency personnel.

Benefits being sought

  1. Increased productivity and efficiency
  2. Reduced construction costs
  3. More responsible use of public investments
  4. Greater reliability
  5. Improved performance

Testing equipment

New soil tests:

  1. GeoComp Load Frame and Hydraulic Loading Hardware for Resilient Modulus/Cyclic Triaxial Testing
  2. Pine Brovold Gyratory Compactor

Conventional soil tests:

  • Automatic Soil Proctor Compactor
  • Relative Density Vibratory Soil Compactor
  • 300 psi Air Compressor
  • Rapid Soil Processor
  • Large and Small Lab Drying Ovens
  • 12 qt Hobart Soil Mixer