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Geotechnical Engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the design and construction of foundations, slopes, retaining walls, embankments, tunnels, levees, wharves, landfills and similar facilities; and with the engineering characterization and behavior of the ground and its constituent materials

Geotechnical Engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the design and construction of foundations, slopes, retaining walls, embankments, tunnels, levees, wharves, landfills and similar facilities; and with the engineering characterization and behavior of the ground and its constituent materials

 

The Geotechnical Program at Virginia Tech is proud to have state-of-the-art experimental research and teaching laboratory facilities. Over $2.2MM has been spent on laboratory test equipment in recent years. The equipment bought include state-of-the art equipment to determine the static and dynamic properties of soil as well as in situ testing equipment for soil exploration and characterization. Over 8,000 square feet are dedicated to the geotechnical laboratories at Virginia tech. This include The English Geotechnical Research Laboratory with 6,100 square feet of high-quality research space on campus, a laboratory in the Civil Engineering building (Patton Hall), and The Prices Fork Research Laboratory which is located off campus and houses our large-scale testing facilities such as an instrumented retaining wall, cone penetrometer calibration chamber, slurry wall, and instrumented geothermal energy pile field test setup.

W.C. English Laboratory

The Geotechnical Program at Virginia Tech has over 8,000 square feet dedicated to the geotechnical laboratories at Virginia tech. This include The English Geotechnical Research Laboratory with 6,100 square feet of high-quality research space.  On campus, a laboratory in the Civil Engineering building (Patton Hall), and the Prices Fork Research Laboratory which is located off campus and houses our large-scale testing facilities. 

Primary focus areas include geomechanics (soil & rock), earth structures, foundation engineering, earthquake engineering, environmental geotechnics, geological engineering and the emerging area of geotechnical composites.

GEOT Header Image

Primary focus areas include geomechanics (soil & rock), earth structures, foundation engineering, earthquake engineering, environmental geotechnics, geological engineering and the emerging area of geotechnical composites.