Tri-State University - Civil & Environmental Engineering

Surveying Lab Surveying is fundamental for civil engineering design and construction. TSU civil engineering students obtain hands-on training in basic theory and the use of surveying equipment. A laser level transmitter and receiver are shown here.

Students also learn to use automatic levels.

Total stations are very popular in surveying. Here, a student is using a total station to measure the horizontal distance to a point, as well as the elevation of the point. The field data is then uploaded to a PC, and Eagle Point^® and AutoCAD^® software are used to create topographic site plans.
Surveying laboratory instruments include the following: Topcon and Pentax Total Stations with HP Data Collectors, Laserplane Electronic Level, Nikon Digital Theodolite, Topcon Automatic Levels, Garmin Handheld GPS Receivers.

			Computer Facilities This computer lab is designated for civil engineering students only. All of the PCs are networked and wired to the Internet. New computers are installed each year to keep up with current technology. The lab also has scanners, printers and a very nice Hewlett Packard inkjet plotter for large-scale drawings. Current software includes Eaglepoint, AutoCAD 2004, Intell-CAD, WinPAS, Winstabl, MS Office, Giant, TR55 and Visual Analysis.

Materials Laboratory Most civil engineering projects are constructed of concrete, steel, asphalt, wood and/or polymers. In this lab, students focus on concrete and asphalt. Steel testing is performed in the mechanical engineering lab. The photo at the right shows the concrete cylinder compression test machine and the concrete curing tank.
Here, students are using the concrete mixer to prepare their concrete mix design.
Once the concrete cures, the cylinders are placed in the compressive machine to obtain the compressed strength of the mix (photo at right).
Students test the viscosity of Superpave asphalt binder using a Brookfield Viscometer in the materials laboratory.
A bending beam rheometer is also used in the Superpave design method.
Major equipment includes the following: Tecquipment HI-Tech Test Stand with Beam and Frame Experiments, Riehle Bros 300,000-lb. Compression Machine, Plain Concrete Beam Tester, Rotap Auto Sieve Shaker, Gilson Mechanical Testing Screen, Scott Engineering Science Corporation Polariscope and Test Stands, and BLH and SR-4 Strain Indicator, etc.

Soil Mechanics Laboratory Almost every project that civil engineers design are built on the ground, under the ground or with the ground! Therefore students learn the fundamental engineering properties of soil in the soil mechanics laboratories. In the picture above, students are preparing samples for a proctor compaction test.
	The shear strength of soil is critical for foundation and retaining wall design, as well as slope stability analyses. The pictures at the left show a direct shear machine,
	a triaxial cell with pore pressure board, and
	an unconfined compression test load frame.
Students also obtain hands-on experience in soil classification, as well as permeability, grain size and CBR testing.
Major equipment includes the following: Consolidometers, Triaxial Test Machine and CBR Machine, TESTlab Corp. Unconfined Compression Machine, Wykeham Ferrence Direct Shear Apparatus, Proctor Test Apparata, Atterberg Test Apparata, Sieve sets, Hydrometer Analysis sets, DCP test equipment, Constant head permeameters and Data acquisition. In 1995 the department was awarded a National Science Foundation ILI for new and innovative lab equipment and testing methods in the Soils Mechanics Laboratory.

Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory
Students learn the principals of water resources engineering in the hydraulics lab. The photo on the right shows a hydraulic bench which circulates water through the various pieces of equipment.
		To design pipelines to carry flow, manometers and pressure gages are used in the Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory.
The phenomenon of boiling in a flowing liquid (known as cavitation) can be visualized in the hydraulic engineering laboratory, and experimental data on pumps can be obtained using model pumps (photo at the right and below)

State of the art technology is also used in hydraulic engineering experiments.
Major equipment includes the following: Tecquipment Hydraulic Bench with Orifice and Jet Impact Apparata, 12-ft Hydraulic Flume with Weirs, Spillways and other Accessories, Technovate Pipe Network complete with Pump, Tank, Manometer, and a Computer Integrated Automatic Data Acquisition System.

Environmental Engineering Laboratory
In this laboratory, students apply principles of chemistry to solve engineering problems such as treating drinking water, air, wastewater, and contaminated soil. The environmental engineering laboratory is well equipped with standard instrumentation (i.e. digital scales, standard drying ovens, laminar flow hoods, bionocular microscope, gang stirrer, constant temperature bath, dessicators, and incubator) and state-of-the art equipment (i.e. reverse osmosis and ion exchange water system, particulate matter air sampler, chemical oxygen demand reactor, programmable high temperature furnace, UV/vis spectrophotometer, pH/ISE meter, turbidity meter, dissolved oxygen meter, and sound pressure level meter).


Measuring Hardness in Groundwater – The term "hardness" is used to characterize water that does not lather well, causes soap scum in bath tubs, and leaves hard deposits on coffee pots and hot water heaters. In this photo, students learn how to measure hardness using an EDTA titration method.

		Coagulation and Flocculation - The Jar Test Method is used to effectively optimize the performance of the coagulation and flocculation steps in a water treatment plant. The jar tester is essentially a series of six mini clarifiers. The essence of getting the best out of a jar test is to know how to relate the collected results back to the operation of a treatment plant.

Biological Examination of Activated Sludge: The activated sludge process is a biological wastewater treatment method whereby a mixture of microorganisms and wastewater is mixed and aerated. In this photo, a biological examination of activated sludge is being performed using a binocular microscope.

Turbidity Determination: The presence in water of suspended material such as clay, silt, and plankton is known as turbidity. Drinking waters with high turbidities are cloudy and are aesthetically objectionable. In this photo, water clarity is being assessed using a digital turbidity meter.
		UV/vis Spectroscopy –Spectrophotometers are heavily used when assessing water quality. In this photo, a UV/vis spectrophotometer is being used to measure the concentration of orthophosphates in water. Orthophosphate is a nutrient directly linked to water quality and eutrophication.
Major equipment includes the following: Cole-Parmer Programmable Furnace, Cole-Parmer Digital Balance, Sargent Welch Const Temp Bath, Sargent Welch Incubator, Boekel Co. Autoclave, Sargent Welch Oven, Voland and OHAUS Balances, and Titration Apparata, etc.