TRAINING COURSES

APTech's staff have developed and presented targeted training programs from the local to national level, and is particularly known for its contributions to a large part of the National Highway Institute's (NHI) pavement curriculum. The following highlights some of our project examples.

Preventive Pavement Maintenance

In 2000, APTech completed the development of a new NHI Course, Pavement Preservation: The Preventive Maintenance Concept. In addition to the presentation of effective pavement preventive maintenance techniques, the course includes guidelines on the allocation of funding for preventive maintenance activities and examples of successful practices in state highway agencies. In the development of the course material, the authors made visits to selected states to develop case studies used in the training materials. The project included the development of presentation materials, an instructor's guide, and an executive session for upper management. APTech is responsible for the development of three additional courses in the Pavement Preservation series. Selecting Pavements for Preventive Maintenance concentrates on identifying and evaluating sites that are appropriate candidates for preventive maintenance and determining the appropriate treatment to apply. Integrating Preventive Maintenance Practices and Pavement Management Systems is designed to demonstrate the use of pavement management tools to support a pavement preservation program at the project, network, and strategic levels. Design and Construction of Quality Preventive Maintenance Treatments covers the categories of preventive maintenance treatments in widespread use today, focusing on the best practices for designing and constructing those treatments.

Pavement Distress Evaluation and Rehabilitation

For several years, the NHI offered two related training courses: Techniques for Pavement Rehabilitation (NHI # 131062) and Pavement Distress Identification (NHI #131063). Because of significant overlap in the materials and a desire to offer more focused training, APTech received a contract to combine elements of these two courses into two new courses: one for hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements and one for portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements. The project involved revising, updating, and creating both new presentation material and comprehensive course reference documents. Both courses included sessions on pavement evaluation and investigation; however, each course separately addressed the distresses and appropriate rehabilitation techniques for HMA and PCC pavements.

Design Details for High Performance PCC Pavements

APTech was contracted under the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Pavement Technology Training Program to develop a concise document detailing recommended practices for concrete pavement design and construction. The Technical Digest developed during this project is being used as part of the course materials for a training class on the same topic.

The Technical Digest includes guidelines for the design of long-lasting concrete pavements, with individual chapters covering important design characteristics such as joint design, joint spacing, reinforcement, base design, and thickness design. The Technical Digest was revised in 2001 to incorporate significant findings from the FHWA's Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program.

The Technical Digest serves as the reference manual for a 2-day training course for the NHI of the same name. APTech developed all training course materials, including the visual aids, Instructor's Guide, and Participant's Workbook. The course was then revised in 2001 to incorporate significant findings from the FHWA's Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program. APTech has the contract to present this course to highway agencies.

APTech also developed an interactive CD-ROM based on the Concrete Pavement Design Details and Construction Practices training course. The entire course materials were placed on CD-ROM in searchable format, and guidelines are presented in the CD-ROM on specific concrete pavement design topics. An interactive concrete pavement design program is included in the CD-ROM that guides the users through a complete concrete pavement design following the AASHTO design procedures.