By Marshall Snead

This summer I worked at CSU’s Engineering Research Lab in the Hydraulics Lab.  The Hydraulics Lab is a business that conducts a number of tests for multiple companies.  Testing at the Hydraulics Lab includes the testing of erosion prevention materials, wave overtopping on levees, stream modeling, and more.   While working at the Hydraulics I mainly help in the building of a model of the Sacramento River.

Marshall and fellow engineering students working at the Engineering Research Lab this summer.

The Sacramento River project is a scale model of the river near Chico, CA.  The river is currently migrating and depositing sand near the intake of a pump station.  It is becoming expensive for the pump station to dredge out the pipe intake in order to continue operation.  Therefore, CSU was contracted to create a scale model and to observe erosion and sedimentation patterns in the river.  From the testing of the scale model it can be determined if it is more cost-efficient to move the pumping station to a new location, continue dredging, or to modify the river.

The model testing will look at a few scenarios including continuing existing conditions and dredging, maintaining existing conditions and moving the pump station, reshaping the downstream river  bank and keeping the pump station where it is, and also considering other locations in that river to modify.  Another way to modify the river would involve using river management devices called Iowa Vanes.  Iowa Vanes are basically sheet piles placed vertically in the river and help control the flow and sedimentation within the river.  The Iowa Vanes would be the ideal scenario for the river modification.

During my summer at the Hydraulics Lab I helped build the model that will later be tested.   The construction of the model consisted of cutting cross sections of the river from plywood.  These cross sections were then installed and anchored in the flume and back filled with sand.   The sand in-between the cross sections were compacted leaving a two inch gap from the bottom of the sand

Pictured above is the model of the Sacramento River built by Marshall and fellow engineers.

and the top of the cross section.  Soil cement, a mixture of sand and cement with a high ratio of sand, was used to fill this two inch gap.  The cement was shaped to meet the contours of the river.  After this process was completed my summer at the Hydraulics Lab was over.

The Hydraulics lab will finish the construction of the river model by filling the river bed with silica sand to see the sediment transfer in the stream.  They will also decorate the stream with paint and modeling vegetation.  Once the construction is completed they will begin the long process of testing the model to find the optimal and cost-efficient solution to the pump stations sediment build up issue.

The Sacramento River model is just one of the many interesting and challenging projects at the Hydraulics Lab and the Engineering Research Center.  The engineering research being conducted at CSU is ground breaking, unique, initiative, and world renown. My summer at the Engineering Research Center was a valuable and fascinating learning experience.   I would recommend anyone who is interested in engineering research to work at the Engineering Research Lab.

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Marshall Snead is a senior at CSU majoring in civil engineering.  He has served as an Engineering Ambassador for the College of Engineering and periodically contributes to MyCSU.

Marshall and a fellow engineering student at the Engineering Exploration Day event.

Engineering Exploration Day with Marshall

Engineering Exploration Day was Saturday, February 13, 2010.  Perspective students around the nation came to check out Colorado State’s Engineering Facilities. Perspective student were able to see many of the labs, get involved with hands on labs, see the new Academic Village for honors and engineering students, and check out all that CSU has to offer to its students.  Many CSU Engineering Students volunteered their valuable time to share their experiences of CSU and engineering, answer questions, and show students around CSU Engineering’s facilities. Over 650 parents, family members and perspective students attended the event. 

I participated in the event as well. I ran a hands-on lab in one of the computer labs in the engineering building called the GIS lab.  The lab was called West Bridge Design.  In this lab, I gave an overview of the many bridge types.  After my presentation, I helped students use a computer program to design their own bridges.  Students could pick from any bridge type including suspension and truss bridges to cross a preset distance.  Students could follow a predesigned bridge or be creative to cross the distance.  In the design process, students had control of the size, shape, and type of steel for their bridge members.  Once their bridge was completed they could test their bridge design and edit their bridge accordingly.  The object of the lab was to design the bridge with the lowest cost.  The student who designed the cheapest bridge during the lab won a prize of a CSU usb-drive. During the Engineering Exploration day I also sat on the parent panel.  Six other students were on the panel as well.  We answered questions that parents had for us and shared our experiences of CSU and engineering.

Students listen to a robotics demonstration at the 2010 Engineering Exploration Day.

Finally, I helped with the tours of the Academic Village.  Honors and engineering students currently living in the new Academic Village provided tours to students and parents around their dorms and showed them their dorm rooms.  I walked around the first floor of the engineering dorm and described the computer lab, design studios, and classroom that are right on dorm, the engineering faculty member that lives on dorm, the on dorm tutoring and instruction, and shared my experiences of the Academic Village from my freshman year. Engineering Exploration day was a great event for perspective students to get a feel for CSU and what CSU engineering is all about.  The event held design project demonstrations, building lab demonstrations, department and program overviews by faculty, panel discussions with current students, tours of the Academic Village, and tours of the Engines lab and Laser lab.  The exploration day was very successful and showed all the great things that Colorado State Engineering has to offer its students.

Meet Marshall: Engineering Ambassador, Coloradoan, CSU Ram

My name is Marshall and my CSU is engineering.  I’m a Civil Engineering Junior with an interest in Structural Engineering.  I have lived in Colorado all my life.  I was born in Denver and raised in beautiful Breckenridge.  I’m an outdoors man and spend a lot of my free time skiing, biking, hiking, running, golfing, Frisbee golfing, and camping.  Here at CSU I am an Engineering Ambassador and I am also apart of the Steel Bridge Team.  I am very dedicated to my studies and always strive to be a better student and person.  CSU’s engineering program is always pushing and challenging me while keeping me interested and engaged.  I love being a CSU Ram and couldn’t picture myself going to any other school.