The new Froude Modelling Hall (to be named after the Victorian pioneer of hydraulic scale modelling) is scheduled for official opening this Spring, but with construction already completed, its new facilities - such as wave basins/wave-current basins (for port and harbour studies), wave flumes (for coastal defence testing) and hydraulic flumes / basins (for river engineering and flood studies) - are already being utilised.

Demand for hydraulic modelling is at an all time high, according to HR Wallingford Director Keith Powell, who said this reflects the present growth and investment in many water engineering sectors. The company's physical models are already being used for studies in Libya, Germany, Madagascar, Qatar, Kuwait, Uganda, Belgium, Hong Kong as well as the UK.