The Federal Highway Administration is extensively revising its Highway Materials Engineering Academy, which for 20 years has prepared transportation agency staff to develop specifications and guidance; make effective project acceptance decisions; and, design, construct and maintain assets to achieve long service life.
Scheduled for a mid-2014 and January 2015 pilot sessions, the new Highway Materials Engineering Course will feature an orientation and eight modules: Portland cement concrete; Quality assurance; Evaluating recycled materials for beneficial uses in transportation; Soils and foundations; Steel, welding, and coatings; Aggregates for transportation construction; Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide; and, Asphalt materials and paving. The course will be held at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Materials Reference Library in Frederick, Md. Approximately six weeks of training will be delivered through a combination of instructor-led, classroom sessions; Web-based training; independent study; plus, laboratory and field experiences. Instructor-led training will account for four weeks of the total.
Working with a team of national experts, Harpers Enterprise Inc. is developing the Highway Materials Engineering Course under an FHWA contract. “The new training will meet the changing needs of highway agencies by offering the best practices in materials engineering, while using today’s diverse platforms for adult learning,” says the agency’s Michael Rafalowski, who can be reached for additional course details and pilot session participation at 202/366-1571; [email protected].