The Phil M. Ferguson Structural Laboratory began its activities in 1960 and was established under its current name in 1980. One of the largest structural testing laboratories in the world, it is capable of testing a wide range of structural materials, components and systems for buildings, bridges and offshore structures. The Laboratory, occupying 45,000 square feet, has a main structural test area 400 feet long and 50 feet wide, served by an overhead traveling crane with 10 and 25- ton hoists. Most of this test area is provided with structural tie-down floors for attaching loading frames and equipment. Auxiliary shops and instrumentation centers are located on each side of the crane bay.
Complete facilities are available for fabrication and loading of specimens.
A comprehensive range of hydraulic actuators, pumps and servo-controlled loading equipment allows the application of static, dynamic and fatigue loadings. A wide range of electronic equipment is available to measure structural response. Data acquisition is carried out by several different types of scanners, controlled by micro-computers. Using micro-computer based programs, output from the Laboratory's data acquisition system is reduced, put in graphical form, evaluated and presented. The goal of the Laboratory is to support the faculty and their students in accomplishing their academic objectives, under the auspices of the Department of Civil Engineering.