Geotechnical Laboratory
The latest phase of the laboratory's development is linked to a donation from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1997, when the existing laboratory was supplemented with state-of-the-art equipment for complex field and laboratory geotechnical investigations and testing. With this third phase in the development of the Department, its laboratory and field equipment rightfully places it among the best-equipped geotechnical centres not only in the Balkans but also in South-East Europe.
At present, the laboratory has equipment for the following tests:
a) Laboratory testing of soil materials
- Complete equipment for classification tests
- Equipment for testing the deformability characteristics of soils
- Large-scale equipment for testing the deformability of coarse-grained soils
- Equipment for testing the shear strength of soils under triaxial compression and direct shear (with the possibility of testing specimens of different dimensions of cohesive and non-cohesive materials)
- Equipment for dynamic testing of soils
- Laboratory vane probe, pocket penetrometer, set of ovens, etc.
- Laboratory permeability tests with constant and variable head
- Laboratory California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests – large-scale direct shear apparatus for coarse-grained materials with dimensions 1×1×0.6 metres
b) Field testing of soil materials
- Static penetrometer with a capacity of 10 t, manufactured by Gouda, the Netherlands
- Ménard pressuremeter for testing the deformability of soils
- Plate load test
- Vertical mobile inclinometer for measuring displacements of unstable ground
- Field California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test
c) Laboratory testing of rocks
- Complete apparatus for the preparation of rock specimens (machines for cutting, drilling and polishing samples)
- Press for testing the uniaxial and triaxial strength of rocks, with the possibility of applying a vertical load of up to 300 tonnes and lateral pressures of up to 70 bar, with various cell sizes for triaxial rock tests
- Rock durability testing (slake durability test)
- Equipment for measuring hardness with a Schmidt hammer
- Hoek direct shear box for shearing along discontinuities (joints)
d) Field testing of rocks
- Set of presses and pumps for testing the deformability and shear strength of blocks/plates
- Equipment for testing the strength of rock specimens by point load, manufactured by Interfels – Germany (Franklin press)
- Borehole dilatometer type IF096, manufactured by Interfels – Germany, for testing the deformability of rocks in exploratory boreholes
- Equipment for refraction seismic geophysical surveys
- Equipment for geoelectrical surveys