Auburn University is taking another giant step as the Southeast\u2019s leader in structural engineering research and instruction through the construction of a $22 million Advanced Structural Testing Laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor years, we\u2019ve had an excellent structural testing lab that\u2019s part of the Harbert Engineering Center. But, over time, we\u2019ve kind of outgrown that lab,\u201d said Steve Taylor, associate dean for research in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. \u201cWe\u2019ve come to the point that we needed to replace it, based on the campus around it, the surroundings that have grown around it and to give our students and faculty the capability to move farther and test much larger components.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 41,500-square-foot facility will include a high bay laboratory with specially engineered floors and walls capable of handling extreme structural testing loads; a 4,700-cubic-foot geotechnical test chamber; a concrete materials research and testing laboratory; a wind testing facility; and faculty and graduate student spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n