The materials laboratory in Civil Engineering at NDSU is used for teaching the basics of hot mix asphalt and Portland cement concrete, two major construction materials used in the civil engineering and construction industries. Some of the laboratory equipment is also used for the soil mechanics (geotechnical) laboratory. The major equipment in the laboratory consists of:

1. Marshall hammer for preparing hot mix asphalt samples

2. Marshall breaking machine for testing hot mix asphalt samples

3. Superpave gyratory compactor

4. Sieves and screens for determining aggregate particle sizes

5. Ovens for heating and drying aggregates

6. Satec compression machine for testing concrete cylinders

7. Other miscellaneous equipment for mixing concrete and casting concrete cylinders

The newest addition to the materials lab is a gyratory compactor for the design of hot mix asphalt. Purchased with funds from the NDSU $20,000,000 Campaign, the gyratory compactor represents state-of-the-art equipment used in the SuperPave mix design procedure. This design procedure is currently being adopted by a number of government agencies throughout the United States. This equipment also has potential for graduate and undergraduate research at NDSU. Both the Portland cement concrete and asphalt industries are interested in improving our laboratory equipment and our library holdings in these areas. Industry representatives have visited our labs and are aware of our current needs.

Laboratory Activities  

CE 303 – Civil Engineering Materials is taught to civil engineering, construction engineering and construction management students in the spring semester. The main emphases in this course are Portland cement concrete and hot mix asphalt. Mix design, placement and curing of these basic construction materials are emphasized. In addition, several laboratory exercises regarding the behavior of steel subjected to bending, tension and torsion are held in the mechanical engineering labs thus relieving the need for redundancy of equipment in the two departments.