Laboratory and Testing Capabilities The Preservation/Biodeterioration group is housed in Richardson Hall, a 96,000 square foot state-of-the art facility dedicated in 1999. The facilities include sterile culture facilities, chemistry laboratories, an experimental treatment cylinder, and a supercritical fuid impregnation pilot plant. The group also maintains a field test site 12 miles north of town. The T.J. Starker Post Farm was established in 1927 and is one of the oldest continuously operated sites in North America. In addition, we maintain numerous field test sites in the lines of member utilities. The group also has access to other facilities within the department and through cross campus arrangements. These include a pole testing facility, composites laboratories, analytical laboratories, and electron microscopes. The group performs the following routine tests: AWPA and ASTM soil block tests for decay resistance NWDMA swellometer tests Field exposures for above ground decay resistance Laboratory and field performance of chemicals against stain fungi Field evaluations of new remedial treatments Culturing of wood for the presence of decay fungi Preservative analysis Treatability of wood species Mechanical (strength) testing of wood