By BRIAN TYNES

Staff Writer

Two grants totaling in excess of $500,000 have been approved for the Trenchless Technology Center.

The largest of the two grants is a research grant from the National Science Foundation and is worth about $400,000, including matching funds from MTS Systems Corporation of Eden Prairie, Minn.

An additional educational grant was approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents for $120,000, including matching funds from BAROID Industrial Drilling Products of Houston as well as MTS.

Dr. Ray Sterling, director of the Trenchless Technology Center and a professor of civil engineering, said it is an important grant, even though it is smaller than expected.

"The NSF grant is a major instrumentation research grant," Sterling said. "Each year you're only allowed to submit two proposals. We asked for $400,000, and we received $275,000."

The remaining $125,000 of the grant came from matching funds.

Sterling said the criteria on which grants are given is based on the number of people who will use the equipment the grants will be used to fund and proof of knowledge of how to use it.

"You have to really show why the equipment is needed and also that you have the capability to use it," Sterling said.

"You need to show you understand the technology the equipment is going to make use of, as well as show the know-how to operate the equipment if you get it."

Dr. Erez Allouche, an assistant professor of civil engineering, said the NSF grant will fund construction of a soil-testing chamber, along with related equipment, which will be the largest of its kind in the southern United States.

"We will be able to test many large pipes at full scale," Allouche said. "[This soil-test chamber] will be the largest in the southern U.S., if not the entire U.S."

The testing chamber will be constructed at Tech and will be used to test methods for installing and rehabilitating underground utility systems with minimal surface disruption.

David Smith, a junior mechanical engineering major, said he feels working in this type of scale will help reduce unforeseen problems.

"You are more likely to eliminate any errors that might come up," Smith said. "On a smaller scale, you can't see errors that might arise with larger pipes on a full-scale model."

Allouche said the grant from the Board of Regents will allow for the construction of a Trenchless Technology Education and Research Laboratory.

Allouche also said the centerpiece of the TTERL will be a large 23 feet by 23 feet by 8 feet soil testing box.

In addition, Allouche said research and testing of various pipes and installation methods will be simulcast through the trenchless technology Web site located at http://www.latech.edu/tech/engr/ttc/.

"We will have a webcam installed, and tests will be broadcast over the Internet via a TTC Web link," Allouche said.

Allouche also said videos and test results will be displayed on a large plasma screen in the TTERL.

Sterling said a small space in the civil engineering hydraulics lab located on the first floor of Bogard Hall will be converted into a research facility that will provide the means to execute different operations.

Sterling said the grants have been approved, but the state grant has not been finalized.

Sterling said, "We're still waiting for the final award letter, but we know it's coming."