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):
- Office Administration
- Environmental
- Materials
- Construction Management
- Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
- 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:
- Project Initiation Prior to Pre-Construction
- Project Initiation During Construction
- Project Initiation Ending Construction
- Miscellaneous Reports
- Maintenance
- DBE/EEO
- Public Relations
- Website Presentation (SiteManager)
- 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:
- 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
- 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:
- 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
- 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:
- Project Development Process
- Project Initiation
- Scheduling
- 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.
