Geotechnical Laboratories

Related Research | Publications 

Managers (Foundations, Soil Mechanisms):

Carl Ealy (carl.ealy@fhwa.dot.gov)

Manager (Outdoor Foundations):
Mike Adams (mike.adams@fhwa.dot.gov)

Overview
The Geotechnical Laboratories are used to study the interactions between soil and structural elements made of steel, concrete, or timber that are used for bridge foundations and retaining wall systems. 

The Geotechnical Laboratories consist of a standard indoor testing facility and several unique outdoor testing facilities. New materials and methods of design and construction are tested and evaluated in both indoor and outdoor environments to determine their acceptability and to identify opportunities for improvement. 

The indoor facility is capable of conducting all of the standard tests for characterizing soil and rock materials for both production-type jobs and research studies. 

One of the outdoor facilities consists of two 5.5-m by 5.6-m by 6.5-m test pits that can be filled with various soils to support either shallow- or deep-foundation systems of modest size. The pits have concrete walls, sump pumps to control water-table levels, and anchorage systems to provide reaction loads for load-testing programs.

The pits are also served by a test-control building that houses the data-acquisition systems and load-testing equipment. There are two additional outdoor test sites where full-scale bridge piers, abutments, and retaining wall structures have been constructed for research and testing purposes.

PUBLICATIONS

Behavior of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composite Piles under Vertical Loads, FHWA-HRT-04-107, August 2006

A Laboratory and Field Study of Composite Piles for Bridge Substructures, FHWA-HRT-04-043, May 2006

Geotechnical Research Publications

Pooled-Fund Study to Validate Geotech Device
R&T Transporter (February 2001)

Public Roads Magazine Articles
Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Piers: A Bridge From the Past to the Present
(Winter 1997)
by Doug Rekenthaler
A GRS pier at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center was loaded to 9800 kilonewtons (2.2 million pounds force) and could have supported more.

Internal FHWA Partnership Leverages Technology & Innovation
(Jan/Feb 2001)
by Bob Bryant

Soil Stiffness Gauge for Soil Compaction Control
(March/April 1998)
by Scott Fiedler, Charles Nelson, E. Frank Berkman, and Al DiMillio 

RELATED RESEARCH

Geotechnical Research Team Web site

NGES Online Database

TFHRC Materials Technology Research

TFHRC Structures Research

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