The main floor of the fluid mechanics laboratory is 35.6 m (117 ft.) long and 8.1 m (26.6 ft.) wide, with a maximum ceiling clearance of 4.27 m (14.0 ft.). It contains an open-channel/wave mechanics flume, a pipe circuit apparatus, a portable tilting flume and a hydraulic bench with several devices to demonstrate the principles of energy, momentum and other flow phenomena. There is also a small teaching laboratory on the second floor with a pump test unit, a flow visualization tank, a water hammer apparatus and a Reynolds apparatus for demonstrating instability of flow through a pipe.
Undergraduate civil engineering courses that utilize the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory include CEE 331 Fluid Mechanics Laboratory and CEE 492 Special Topic–Hydrodynamics of Free-Surface Flows. Undergraduate students also use this laboratory for independent research studies including the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. K-12 outreach activities include the Big Sioux Water Festival and Youth Engineering Adventure/Summer Scholars, which are held annually in May and July, respectively, at South Dakota State University.
