RESEARCH ENTERPRISE
Facilities
Main Offices
The main offices for the Trenchless Technology Center are on the second floor of the Engineering Annex building on the Louisiana Tech University main campus. The space includes four offices, a conference room and an information reference room with an extensive collection of research and information materials related to trenchless technology.
On South Campus
TTC facilities on the South Campus include the National Trenchless Technology Research Facility and an adjacent field testing facility.
The National Trenchless Technology Research Facility provides the Trenchless Technology Center with high-bay research space with an overhead crane where large scale experiments can be performed. A 20-foot-by-20-foot soil box, allows applying horizontal and vertical loads to soil and structures within it, and the construction of purpose-built testing frames. The soil box of this scale is one of only a few in North America and is one of the largest. The facility was completed in 2007.
The field testing site of approximately 70,000 sq. ft. has been used for a variety of field tests related to HDD research, pipe systems and ground movements associated with upsizing during pipe replacement, etc. The field testing facility contains four soil test sections, each approximately 14.6 m long, containing local clay, sand, silt and a clay-gravel mixture to a depth of about 2m. The test section has a 3-m by 6-m jacking pit at one end. The facility has electric power available to the site and is accessible to large construction equipment.
Bogard Hall Laboratories
Additional laboratories are housed in the Bogard Hall building. Materials Characterization Lab has been used for testing the short- or long-term pressure response of a variety of pipes and pipe lining systems, and Rheology Lab for HDD drilling fluid properties. State-of-the-art Electromagnetic Lab is an advanced research and testing facility for developing sensors for trenchless applications.
