Laboratory of Engineering Geology

 

Information on the service
The "Marcello Zalaffi" Laboratory of Engineering Geology, at the Department of Earth Sciences, is an educational and research laboratory that deals with the physical and mechanical characterization of soils and soft rocks. It is very popular with bachelor and master students, PhD students and young researchers in engineering geology, also during internship and stage activities carried out by students coming from foreign research centers or universities.

 

Booking
Through a contact with the responsible of the laboratory
 

Devices
The laboratory is developed in two adjacent rooms and can also take advantage of an open space. It is equipped with instrumentation to determine physical parameters (grain size distribution, Atterberg limits and unit solid volume weight), state parameters (water content, void index and porosity, total, dry and saturated unit volume weight) and mechanical properties (shear and compression strength and oedometric deformability). The laboratory can also carry out permeability tests on soils and has a space for the preparation of rock specimens devoted to breakage tests in other laboratories. The spaces of the laboratory can also host physical-analogue experiments and reduced-scale models in the framework of research on slope stability.

 

Application fields

  • geotechnics: physical and mechanical characterization of soils and soft rocks
  • hydrogeology: permeability tests on soils
  • engineering-geology: physical and mechanical characterization of soils and soft rocks, physical- analogue lab-models 
  • cultural heritage: physical and mechanical properties of soils and mortar for restauration works

 

Pictures from laboratory tests

Immagini di alcune prove di laboratorio
Clockwise: Preparation of a soil specimen for the triaxial test; Preparation of a soil specimen for the oedometer test; Liquid Limit determination by means of the Casagrande Spoon device; Point Load Test on a rock sample; Pile of sieve for the grain size distribution test; Soil specimen failed by the triaxial test device.

 

 

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