The structural testing platform is one major facility of Gustave Eiffel university to lead research activities on structures safety and serviceability. Experiments carried out with such facility enable to set up and validate structural models and computation methods that consider the nonlinear behaviour of materials and structures. It helps to analyze the pathologies and mechanical disorders that can affect structures, or to validate some repair techniques. Besides, it represents a necessary step in the validation of technical innovations, also considering the use of new materials in civil engineering structures.

Built in 1967 in Paris and in 2012 in Champs-sur-Marne when relocating IFSTTAR headquarters, the structural testing platform includes:

• A strong floor 60 m × 10 m with anchorage holes every 50 cm in the central area and every 1 m, each having a capacity of 50 t vertically in tension or compression (10 t horizontally);
• Two reaction walls 5 m high with anchorage holes every 1m, for a capacity of 100 t at the top of the reaction wall;
• Associated modular superstructures (giant "Meccano") adapted to the various shapes of tested structural elements, thus making complex experimental set-ups entirely feasible.
• A wide array of both static (up to 200 t units) and dynamic (up to 80 t) hydraulic cyliniders for a maximum load capacity of 600 t for a quasi-static test with servo-control on displacement, load or external signal using a monotonic, cyclical or random law;
• More than 300 measuring devices and sensors, with associated conditioners; two main data acquisition systems and complementary or specific data recorders, and some devices for 3D image analysis.