LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Soil Mechanics/Geotechnical Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab tackles ground problems underfoot, such as liquefaction and scour, with precise soil testing.
AboutAbout the lab
Diagnosing the ground underfoot through soil testing
The Soil Mechanics/Geotechnical Lab studies geotechnical engineering, which applies knowledge of mechanics, chemistry, and other fields to solve problems in the ground underfoot that supports daily life.
The ground still holds many poorly understood phenomena, such as liquefaction, in which sandy ground behaves like a liquid during an earthquake.
The lab puts great effort into soil testing: each student and researcher is responsible for one apparatus and carries out high-precision tests.
Most of the apparatus are custom-made, and members work together when preparing model ground for shaking table tests.
Key terms
- Scour
- A phenomenon in which flowing river water erodes sediment from the riverbed around structures such as bridge piers
- Fines
- The portion of the particles in soil that is finer than sand, namely silt and clay
- Shaking table test
- An experiment in which a table carrying a model is shaken to reproduce how ground and structures move during an earthquake
NewsLab news
A graduate of the lab received an Excellence Award at the Japan Road Conference
A master's student received the Outstanding Presenter Award at the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) Annual Meeting
A student received the Outstanding Paper Presenter Award at the 60th Japan National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering
Prof. Watanabe received the Commendation for Science and Technology from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Research Category)
Information session and lab tour for the FY2026 graduate school entrance exam
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies problems that occur in the ground underfoot, such as liquefaction and river scour. It focuses in particular on high-precision soil testing and on developing the theory of geotechnical engineering.
*Illustrative imageScour around river bridge piers
The lab investigates how differences in the shape of scour-protection blocks and in riverbed material affect the process by which the foundations of bridge piers standing in a river become unstable.
*Illustrative imageLocal scour during floods and bridge foundations
The lab investigates how local scour around bridge piers during moderate-scale floods destabilizes the foundations of bridges spanning rivers.
*Illustrative imageRepeated liquefaction
The lab reproduces "multiple liquefaction," in which liquefaction occurs repeatedly at the same site, using a multilayer ring shear apparatus, and investigates how the history of past liquefaction affects the soil's strength against the next liquefaction.
*Illustrative imageUsing low-quality soil for embankments
The lab examines whether low-quality soil containing non-plastic fines can be used in place of conventional embankment construction materials, through methods such as triaxial tests on unsaturated soil.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Soil Mechanics/Geotechnical Lab consist of faculty, secretaries, researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorKenji WatanabePublications ↗
- Project Associate ProfessorHailong WangPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorTokio Morimoto
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Who is this lab for?
What's great about this lab?
What did you learn after joining?
What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
Where do graduates go?
RelatedLabs similar to Soil Mechanics/Geotechnical Lab
Kuwano LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Civil EngineeringSoil mechanics, including evaluation of mechanical propertie…
International Project LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Civil EngineeringCore laboratory of the "International Project Group" in the …
Kishi LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Civil EngineeringElucidation of the physical properties of cementitious mater…
Kiyota LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Civil EngineeringResearch on mitigation and prevention of natural disasters w…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Danish triaxial shear test apparatus, in action” TomasSab / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Scour around river bridge piers: “Fernbridge 031317 pier scouring Caltrans” Caltrans District 1 / Public domain (cropped)
- Local scour during floods and bridge foundations: “Detail, Pier 3, with large stone riprap showing depth of scour which has taken place since bridge was completed; view to northwest. - Parks Bar Bridge, Spanning Yuba River at HAER CAL,58-SMAVI.V,1-20” Tateishi, Don Related names: Parks, David Thomas, William M Post, W S Crook, Leslie Noble Brothers Gill, Barry Lee, transmitter / Public domain (cropped)
- Repeated liquefaction: “Post-liquefaction testing” TomasSab / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Using low-quality soil for embankments: “An embankment under construction 1961 (JOKAKAL3B-9659)” 作者不詳 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (桑野研究室): “Sinkhole in Harbor, Oregon” Oregon Department of Transportation / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (国際プロジェクト研究室): “DJI 0153-1” SinsiDILINI123 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (岸研究室): “Detail of vertical crack in concrete retaining wall at Medway Park Sports Centre, Gillingham, Kent, England” Sunolafjagtenben-hur / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (清田研究室): “Manhole shows subsidence occurred by 2011 Sendai earthquake” On-chan / CC0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.