Facilities

State-of-the-art physical modelling facilities

HR Wallingford is committed to developing and investing in state of the art facilities. Our Ship Simulation Centre houses two full bridge, real time ship manoeuvring simulators that are specifically configured for port design and ship operations applications.

Responding to record demand for hydraulic modelling, HR Wallingford also recently invested over £3.5m in a purpose built and environment controlled modelling hall, to house state-of-the-art physical modelling facilities. The new Froude Modelling Hall (named after the Victorian pioneer of hydraulic scale modelling) extends to approximately 11,200m². We have wave basins equipped with state of the art instrumentation including multi-element random wavemakers, laser scanners, video capture and infrared tracking systems (for monitoring the movement of moored vessels). We also have several flumes including general purpose flume with volumetric measurement capability. Our dedicated technical support staff have, between them, more than 85 years experience in the construction and maintenance of models. We have our own instrumentation design, manufacture, installation and servicing group, as well as support from electricians and IT staff. Our fully equipped, modern support facilities include a workshop, woodshop and instrument laboratory covering in total some 540m².