Geotechnical, Soil & Water Laboratory

Providing specialised geotechnical testing and characterisation with state-of-the-art testing equipment for research and infrastructure projects.
The University of Melbourne’s Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory has had significant investment over the past 10 years on equipment and staff to support our research activities.

Capabilities include soil and rock characterisation for complex infrastructure, decommissioning and rehabilitation projects.

To be able to access and book time on an instrument:

1. Join the laboratory CANVAS community by following this link - Geotechnical, Soil and Water Laboratory
2. Follow the induction procedure outlined on the CANVAS page and receive an induction for the lab.
3. Identify the instrument you wish to have access to
4. Request training for the instrument by accessing the "Testing & Training Requests" tab and finding the relevant training request form
5. Submit your request for training and make contact with the relevant staff member responsible for the instrument

Making an instrument booking:

1. Access the 'Equipment Booking' tab
2. Scroll to the equipment you would like to book and click on the 'view schedule' button
3. Once on the equipment schedule click and drag down the time you would like to book, input your reservation details, you can specify which instrument number you would like to use and also adjust your start and finish times here
4. Click save and send for approval

Using the instrument:

1. Sign into the kiosk to access your booking, click 'start booking'
2. Select the 'log out and use equipment option' to start using the equipment
3. To finish your booking and log your usage hours, sign back into the kiosk and click 'finish'
4. A walk-in booking can be made by scanning the QR code on the desktop wallpaper

To make a testing request:

1. Access the "Testing & Training Requests" tab
2. Submit a laboratory testing request form and fill in the necessary details
3. Wait for the core to approve your request and provide a quote
4. Review your quote and agree to the quoted price
5. You can monitor your project progress on the "View my Requests" tab

Remember that it is a requirement that all outputs arising from the use of the Geotechnical, Soil & Water Laboratory facilities acknowledge the laboratory. Please use the following in the acknowledgement section of any papers:

“This work was performed in part at the Geotechnical, Soil & Water Laboratory at the University of Melbourne”

Porous Media Research Lab Group Webpage: PMRL

Geotechnical, Soil & Water Laboratory OH&S SharePoint: Geotechnical, Soil and Water Laboratory

Geotechnical, Soil & Water Laboratory CANVAS: Geotechnical, Soil and Water Laboratory (COM_COM_000219)