Laboratory

Soil Properties Testing | Lab and Field QA/QC Testing | Research/Development | Sensor Calibration | Instrumentation/Automation

GLA has four full-service geotechnical laboratories that provide soils, rock, geosynthetics and other materials testing. Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sparks, Nevada; Anaheim, California; and Grass Valley, California, these laboratories provide testing for a wide range of public and private clientele – from local construction companies to worldwide mining companies. The diverse clientele of our laboratories include consultants, engineers, contractors, other laboratories, and state, federal and local governmental agencies. Testing is conducted using the most up to date test standards available.

Laboratory Accreditations/Validations Include:

• AASHTO (American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials) Accreditation Program (AAP)
• Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)
• California Department of State Architecture

Our Grass Valley laboratory goes through inspections with the Cement and Concrete Reference Laboratory (CCRL) and participates in their Proficiency Sample Program (PSP) for concrete samples.

• Soil properties testing
• Lab and Field QA/QC Testing
• Research/Development
• Sensor Calibration
• Instrumentation/Automation

GLA laboratories provide analyses of consolidated and unconsolidated materials (e.g., rock, soil, fly ash, waste rock tailing, slag, concrete, etc.). Our certified technicians have provided quality soil testing results for modeling, construction, and geotechnical projects for clients around the world. We are recognized for our ability to develop and implement innovative testing techniques and procedures to meet our clients’ specific challenges, and to provide consistent and reliable results following standard testing methods, including:

Hydrologic properties analyses:

• Saturated hydraulic conductivity
• Moisture-retention properties
• Soil-water characteristic curves
• Van Genuchten modeling parameters
• Hysteresis effects
• As-received soil water potential
• Effective porosity
• Water-holding capacity

Consolidation and strength testing:

• 1-dimensional swell and consolidation
• Triaxial shear
• Direct shear

Standard geotechnical testing:

• Particle size analysis
• Proctor compaction testing
• Plasticity index
• Specific gravity

Project-specific customized analyses:

• Column testing
• Capillary barrier analyses
• Leach testing
• Material-specific moisture retention analyses

GLA’s certified technicians have provided quality soil testing results for modeling, construction, and geotechnical projects for clients around the world. We are recognized for our ability to develop and implement innovative testing techniques and procedures to meet our clients’ specific challenges, and to provide consistent and reliable results following standard testing methods.  Our staff members have provided daily observation, testing, and documentation for thousands of industrial projects including mines, earthen embankments, liquid containment structures, landfills, commercial developments, and industrial processing facilities. Our field technicians are experienced with geomembrane non-destructive/destructive methodologies, field soils testing and evaluation of soils/synthetic interfaces, single and double ring infiltrometer permeability testing, documentation and report generation.

Construction materials expertise includes:

• Soil and rock
• Geosynthetic clay liner (GCL)
• High density polyethylene (HDPE)
• Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE)
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
• Chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE – Hypalon)
• Low hydraulic conductivity soil liner
• Liner cover material property verification

GLA is dedicated to finding better, cost-effective solutions for our clients’ environmental challenges. Since the firm’s inception in 1991, research and development (R&D) has been a focus of GLA’s professionals. As GLA has grown, engineering, design, and construction skills have evolved into a significant internal R&D program, which has led to five Small Business Innovation Research grants (both Phase I and II), as well as several patents.

GLA’s research capabilities have been recognized by national laboratories, government agencies, universities, and private institutions that have relied upon the expertise of our employee-owners in pursuing innovative solutions to environmental problems. These organizations and other clients with difficult or unique problems have benefited from our R&D emphasis. These R&D efforts have contributed to the success of many of our projects.

The GLA Soils Testing and Research Laboratories are certified by an independent inspection and assessment agencies on behalf of a U.S. Department of Energy contractor to calibrate a variety of sensors and instruments used to collect soils data.

Instruments that we calibrate include:

• Heat dissipation sensors
• Time-domain reflectometers (TDRs)
• Pressure transducers
• Water content reflectometers
• Psychrometers
• Gypsum blocks
• Custom instrumentation

GLA also regularly designs, installs, and operates a wide range of automated data collection and monitoring equipment.

Accuracy and efficiency of the data-collection process is imperative to the success of your environmental or natural resources project.

GLA regularly designs, installs, and operates a wide range of automated data collection and monitoring equipment used to conduct geologic, hydrogeologic, geotechnical, and construction quality assurance testing projects. In choosing the type of equipment needed, we take into consideration site-specific conditions, and our clients frequently call upon us to design and develop specialized monitoring equipment and programs for unique circumstances. GLA’s wide range of experience collecting data at different sites ranging from remote areas to urban environment has enabled us to anticipate site conditions that can affect equipment performance, such as temperature extremes, humidity, or caustic environments. Specifying and installing the right equipment and providing the proper maintenance ensures that equipment remains functional and data collection is consistent and reliable. GLA’s in-house expertise also makes us an excellent choice for development and hosting of customized data management systems, including user-friendly, web-based platforms.

GLA uses automated state-of-the-art instrumentation for:

• Aquifer/pumping tests
• Recharge/infiltration studies
• Contaminant migration studies
• Water quality studies
• Streamflow/surface water flow
• Ecological health assessments
• Water balance/watershed studies
• Landfill gas migration analyses
• Meteorological studies
• Fire hazard studies
• Air quality assessments
• Waste rock draindown analyses

GLA also maintains a full complement of field testing equipment for construction quality assurance testing, groundwater and soil sampling, aquifer testing, and geophysical testing. Testing is conducted using the most up to date test standards available.