geomaterials

ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL) Visits CIR

October 24, 2022 by Kathrine Bradshaw

Earlier this month, the Geotechnical and Unbound Materials Innovation Lab and the Advanced Infrastructure Materials and Manufacturing Lab at the CIR were visited by ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL). The visitors included the Branch Chief of the Geotechnical Division, Mr. Chris Price, Dr. Lucas Walshire (Geotechnical Engineer), Dr. Joe G. Tom (Research Civil Engineer), and Samantha Lucker (Research Geologist).

Research underway at the CIR, located at the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus, encompasses all aspects of infrastructure, from concrete and asphalt to plastics and polymer additives. Dr. Puppala’s research group specializes in geomechanics and geotechnical aspects such as pavement and materials stabilization for infrastructure support and unsaturated and expansive soils characterization, and is part of the CIR’s Geotechnical and Unbound Materials Innovation Lab.

The GSL is dedicated to creating innovative solutions to support the nation’s security, defense, public safety, and infrastructure. This ranges from running the world’s most powerful centrifuge dedicated to engineering and scientific research to creating asphalt that quickly repairs remote airfields to developing rapidly deployable protection systems that shield buildings from damage.

As part of their visit, the GSL team was invited to present a TEES Tech Talk, along with touring several geotechnical laboratories with the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Center for Infrastructure Renewal (CIR). These included Dr. Marcelo Sanchez and Dr. Jean-Louis Briaud’s labs.

Dr. Puppala thanked the ERDC GSL team for their visit and possible future collaborations between TEES and ERDC.

Federal Highway Administration Engineer Visits CIR

September 1, 2022 by Kathrine Bradshaw

This week, Silas Nichols, Principal Bridge Engineer – Geotechnical at Federal Highway Administration, visited the Center for Infrastructure Renewal. Dr. Anand Puppala, Interim Director showed the CIR’s unique state-of-the-art facilities. During the facility tour, Silas was able to visit with CIR researchers and students on their work in Corrosion, Structures, and Geomaterials.

Dr. Raymundo Case provided an in-depth look at the ongoing work in the National Corrosion and Materials Reliability Lab, which focuses on solutions to the corrosion needs of industry and government in order to maximize asset life, production efficiency and worker safety. While Dr. Pete Keating showed the Structural and Materials Testing Lab’s unique ability to perform both full-scale, and also component and material testing. Prince Kumar and other members of the Geomaterials team spoke with Silas over their student research projects in the Geotechnical and Unbound Materials Innovation Lab which allows researchers to investigate soil behaviors, pavement geomaterials, soil stabilization, geosynthetics, and rehabilitation techniques that can be implemented in the short and long term.

Texas A&M team takes first place in GeoPrediction 2021

May 27, 2021 by Kathrine Bradshaw

Puppala delivered the Ralph B. Peck Medal Lecture at the Geo-Congress 2020 Conference

November 12, 2020 by Kathrine Bradshaw

This year, Dr. Anand Puppala, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE., F.ASCE, F-ICE, gave the Ralph B. Peck Medal Lecture at the Geo-Congress 2020 Conference in Minneapolis. His lecture was titled “Problematic Soils: Characterization Challenges, Innovative Solutions and Novel Monitoring Methods.”

His lecture can be viewed in its entirety below.

Dr. Puppala’s research has been instrumental in advances in expansive soils and unsaturated soil mechanics, as well as practical implementation of soil improvement technologies for supporting transportation infrastructure. This research helps infrastructure last longer and take on less wear with their usage.

As a noted significant contributor in the field, Dr. Puppala was recognized with the Ralph B. Peck Award. “I am truly humbled and hono Puppala with Award red to receive this distinguished award, and I attribute this success to my faculty advisors and my research team members,” Puppala said. The Ralph B. Peck Award was established by ASCE and the Geo-Institute in 1995. It is presented for outstanding contributions to the geotechnical engineering profession through the publication of

a thoughtful, carefully researched case history or histories, or the publication of recommended practices or design methodologies based on the evaluation of case histories.

Dr. Puppala serves as the associate director of the Center for Infrastructure Renewal (CIR) and conducts his research in the geotechnical laboratories, specifically soils and unbound materials labs, housed within the facility.