Civil and Construction Engineering

Infrastructure Material Laboratories consist of four research facilities specially designed and equipped with state-of-the art equipment for advanced characterization of a wide range of infrastructure materials. These laboratories provide advanced tools and expertise for the pursuit of industrial and academic research.

Much of the experimental research in wood structures is conducted at the Gene D. Knudson Engineering Laboratory in the Department of Wood Science and engineering in Richardson Hall on the OSU campus. A 3,000 sf. high-bay facility with 12 ft. high L-shaped reaction wall and 60x40 foot reaction floor to accommodate dynamic testing of large wood components and structural systems. It is equipped with servo-hydraulic test systems as well as specialized features.

The Geotechnical Engineering Field Research Site at Oregon State University provides researchers, engineering practitioners, and contractors with a well-characterized site for state-of-the-art research and product testing. The site was established in 1997 with the first round of extensive geotechnical and geophysical investigations. Since that time the data base of geotechnical and geophysical information at the site has been significantly expanded with results from the following tests:

Researchers affiliated with the laboratory are concerned with studying transportation operations and safety issues from a multi-modal perspective.