. . . not exactly, but he did recently complete the one-week NCAT Professor Training Course along with about 20 others, mainly from the academic world.
NCAT has developed an educational program for college and university civil engineering faculty that provides clear and up to date lecture and laboratory material for the asphalt portion of an undergraduate civil engineering materials course. During the week 13 sessions covering the history of paving; asphalt mixes, production, and construction; and pavement structures were presented the NCAT staff. There were also four lab sessions were the various asphalt tests were demonstrated and then one lucky student got a chance to do the test themselves. There was a homework assignment on each of the first four days and a two-hour final exam on the last day of class.
On the last day, the class went on a bus tour to a paving job and an asphalt plant. The tour end at the NCAT Test Track facility, which is a 1.7 mile oval track with 46 200-foot long test sections. The students were able to get off the bus as see construction of the various section in progress. They also got a chance to see one of the five vehicles that is used to load the pavement. When the fleet is operational, an AM driver shift runs from 5:00 AM until approximately 2:00 PM, and a PM driver shift runs from 2:00 PM until approximately 11:00 PM. Each rig in the 5 truck fleet targets running 680 miles per day (340 miles per driver) in order to damage experimental pavements.
Lunchtime provided the students and instructors an opportunity to chat as did the group dinner on Thursday evening.
PHOTOS:
The “students” and instructors
Classroom and Labs
Sample homework problem
Dinner at Venditori’s
Bus Tour of a Paving Job and Asphalt Plant
Tour of the NCAT Test Track
Test Track Vehicle
