Facilities

Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Hall houses the Department of Civil Engineering faculty and many research facilities, as well as the offices for the Dean of the College of Engineering. The College of Engineering Library and a major terminal facility for The University's computer systems are also located there. The University of Texas Computation Center maintains an extensive system of mainframe, mini- and micro-computers, as well as the Advanced Graphics Laboratory and the High Performance Workstation Laboratory. The University of Texas System Center for High Performance Computing provides state-of-the-art supercomputer services with a Cray X-MP/24 supercomputer and several support computers. The Civil Engineering Department also maintains its own micro-computer laboratory.

Most of the experimental research studies in structural engineering are conducted in the Phil M. Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory, located seven miles north of the main campus at The University of Texas J.J. Pickle Research Campus (PRC). Free direct shuttle bus service is available between Cockrell Hall and the Research Campus. Ferguson Laboratory is one of the largest structural research facilities in the world. Multi-story structures and full-size multi-girder bridge structures have been tested there. The laboratory, which is more than 400 feet long, contains three test slabs, 40 x 80 ft., 40 x 60 ft., and 30 x 60 ft. One of the test floors surrounds a 600-kip universal test machine for testing full-size flexural specimens. In addition, a test facility consisting of a 44 x 32 ft. test floor, combined with two perpendicular vertical walls, each 19 ft. high, permits three dimensional loading. Fatigue testing facilities are available to study full-size components under random amplitude and frequency to simulate actual service conditions. Cables, such as those used in cable-stayed bridges, can be tested in fatigue up to loads of 4.5 million pounds in the Laboratory's cable testing facility.

A number of closed-loop servo-controlled loading systems and a variety of data acquisition systems are available in the Ferguson Laboratory. These systems are suitable for static, dynamic, and fatigue loading programs, and are controlled by the laboratory's own computer systems. Direct access to the main university computer facility is also available. A number of closed-loop servo-controlled loading systems and a variety of data acquisition systems are available in the Ferguson Laboratory. These systems are suitable for static, dynamic, and fatigue loading programs, and are controlled by the laboratory's own computer systems. Direct access to the main university computer facility is also available.

Extensive facilities for materials research are available. A materials testing facility is located in the Ferguson Laboratory. The J.J. Pickle Research Campus also has a polymer concrete laboratory with facilities for testing under a variety of conditions, including fatigue, creep, and controlled temperature.