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South Carolina Department of Transportation Short Course Quality Control Short Course Quality Control and Quality Assurance Technician Certifications for Contractors and SCDoT Personnel


Portland Cement Concrete      Resident Engineer


 

Portland Cement Concrete Technician Certifications
The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is in the process of developing and initiating contractor Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QC/QA) programs for several of its construction-related processes. In the early 1990's, a research project was initiated to explore the feasibility of establishing a contractor QC/QA program for asphalt work. Subsequent research projects developed the process and SCDoT is now in the implementation phase with pilot projects being conducted and full implementation expected in 2000. Certifying SCDOT and contractors' personnel has been an integral part of the process.


In 1998, SCDOT initiated a research contract with Transtec Consultants (Austin, TX) to develop a Quality Assurance Program for Portland Cement Concrete in South Carolina. In late 2000, Transtec delivered their draft report entitled Development of a Quality Assurance Program for Portland Cement Concrete in South Carolina. This document included the Quality Assurance specification and supporting documentation. A significant component of the proposed specification is technician certification. An April 2001 revised draft copy of the SCDOT specification Structural Concrete Quality Assurance is included in Appendix A- Concrete QC/QA Certification of Contractors and SCDOT Personnel - Module D - SCDOT Supplemental Material. Appendix A represents the “course notes” for the pilot offering of the certification program.


The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) of the University of South Carolina (USC) undertook to develop a comprehensive certification program for Portland cement concrete contractors and SCDOT technical personnel. This program is aimed at providing certification for SCDOT technicians and inspectors and contractors' personnel pursuant to the adopted SCDOT Specification for Structural Concrete Quality Assurance.


The objectives of this program were to undertake the necessary planning, develop instructional materials, conduct a pilot program, and to put in place the infrastructure necessary to fully implement a concrete QC/QA certification program. The concrete QC/QA certification program complements a similar program developed by the investigators for aggregate suppliers.


American Concrete Institute (ACI) certification programs were adopted as the basis for SCDOT certification. Additional supplemental material, relevant to SCDOT practice was appended to the existing ACI certification program. A detailed description of this supplemental material and an overview of ACI certification is provided in this report.

ACI certification was selected as the basis because it is most cost efficient, complete, up-to-date and nationally recognized.

A pilot offering of the SCDOT certification program was offered June 19-21, 2001. Eighteen participants were selected. Eleven of these have received SCDOT certification. Success rates are believed to be typical of what should be expected in the future.

Considerable feedback was solicited from the pilot program offering and appropriate changes were made to the content and presentation.

It is believed that the experience of the pilot offering will be representative of future offerings in terms of operation, content and participant performance. It is further believed that the program described in this report satisfies the requirements set out in the SCDOT specification Structural Concrete Quality Assurance.

 

SCDOT Resident Engineer Academy


The Resident Construction Engineer (RCE) and the Resident Maintenance Engineer (RME) play important roles in the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDoT). The engineers in these positions are responsible for SCDoT projects from pre-construction activities through final plans and maintenance activities. To keep these engineers up-to-date in the varied activities related to their positions, a technology transfer program was organized for the following topics (modules):

  1. Office Administration
  2. Environmental
  3. Materials
  4. Construction Management
  5. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
  6. Safety

It was determined that the SCDoT would establish the module Safety in-house due to the number of related programs that they have already developed. The other modules were developed and piloted at the University of South Carolina (USC).

Modules will be offered twice per year. Please see schedules for presently scheduled dates.
Cost for each module is $400. Substitutions can be arranged in advance with our office; however, cancellations without notice of at least 3 business days and no-shows will not result in a refund of the module fee.

All modules begin at 8:00 a.m. on the beginning day, unless otherwise specified on the class agenda, and will be held in the Faculty Lounge of the Swearingen Engineering Center, 301 Main Street. Signs will be posted directing attendees to the classroom, and attendees are expected to come early to pick up a parking permit. Download map and directions for parking and building locations.



I: Administrative:

The module consists of 1.5 days of presentations followed by a short examination. The agenda items are:

  • Day 1:
  • Project Initiation Prior to Pre-Construction
  • Project Initiation During Construction
  • Project Initiation Ending Construction
  • Miscellaneous Reports
  • Maintenance
  • DBE/EEO
  • Public Relations
  • Website Presentation (SiteManager)
  • Day 2:
  • Purchasing/Procurement
  • STARS Payroll
  • Review and Examination

The manual consists of handouts for all items except Public Relations and Examination.



II: Environmental:

The module consists of 1.5 days of presentations followed by a short test. It regularly follows the Administrative module (after a lunch break) on Day 2 to ease travel requirements for the participants. The agenda items are:

  • Day 1:
  • Federal and State Laws, Regulations & Guidances: Overview
  • 404 Permit (33 USC 1344)(33 CFR Part 330) Highway & Site Management: Hazardous Materials, Razing Structures, Debris Disposal, Waste Management
  • OCRM Permit, Wetlands, Endangered Species, Archeological Sites
  • Day 2:
  • Inspections & Audits: DHEC & EPA, Self-Auditing(Compliance Mgmt), Reporting/Records (Haz Waste & Generation)
  • USTs, Spills, Non-haz Materials/Wastes, Housekeeping
  • SPCC Plans
  • Introduction to ISO 14000
  • Roadside Vegetative Management
  • Stormwater Quality Management: Intro., Federal & State Requirements, Permitting, Management & Planning, MS-4, SWP-3
    Examination

The manual includes sections with handouts for all items except Examination.



III: Materials:

The module consists of 1.5 days of presentations and discussion followed by a short test and then a subsequent 3-day laboratory section in small groups conducted by SCDoT lab personnel at the SCDoT Materials Research Lab. The laboratory portion will be scheduled and offered to the participants of the presentation portion. Attendees will be notified of the lab section dates and should come prepared to choose a preferred lab section and an alternate section, if necessary. The signed lab section sheet will need to be faxed or mailed to our offices to insure our records indicate that this module is completed. The presentation portion agenda items are:

  • Day 1:
  • Structural Steel
  • Structural Materials Testing
  • Prestressed Concrete Plant Inspection
  • Precast Drainage Inspection
  • Reinforced Concrete Pipe Inspection
  • Ready-mixed Concrete Plant Inspection
  • Soils Testing
  • Subsurface Investigation
  • Pavement Design/Evaluation
  • Day 2:
  • Cement Physical Unit
  • Cement Chemical Unit
  • Asphalt
  • Quality Assurance
  • Matlab
  • Examination

The manual includes sections with handouts for all items except Examination.



IV: Construction Management:

The module consists of 1.5 days of presentations followed by a short test. It regularly follows the Materials module (after a lunch break) on Day 2 to ease travel requirements for the participants. The agenda items are:

  • Day 1:
  • Project Development Process
  • Project Initiation
  • Scheduling
  • Day 2:
  • Construction Management – General
  • Construction Management – Road
  • Construction Management – Bridge
  • Project Closeout
  • Examination

The manual includes sections with handouts for all items except Examination.



V: Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS):

The module consists of one day of presentations and discussion followed by a short test. The agenda items are:

  • Introduction to ITS
  • ITS Elements I
  • ITS Elements II: Resident Engineers & ITS
  • Incident Management / Freeway Operations
  • State Emergency Management Division (EMD)
  • Traffic Engineering Road Data Services
  • Examination


The manual includes sections with handouts for all items except Examination.












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