The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Two recently reserved space for 18 of its Profession Engineer (PE) Trainees to attend Asphalt Testing Solutions & Engineering’s (ATS) Asphalt Workshop. This group is composed of future FDOT PEs and leaders!
The 2-day workshop is a customizable introduction to the asphalt industry and market. The workshop is hosted on Duval Asphalt’s production facility which is home to the ATS Binder Lab, Quality Control (QC) Lab, and Performance Testing Lab.
The workshop is divided into two parts – lectures classrooms style and hands-on training in the ATS labs. The days are balanced by half day of lectures and half day of hands-on training. During the lectures, ATS Director of Engineering, Tanya Nash, ATS Director of Operations, Steve McReynolds, and ATS Asphalt Binder Engineer, Swathi Theeda presented to the groups over the two days.
On the first day, attendees learned an overview of the asphalt industry and market, then dove into asphalt binders. This section included everything from asphalt binder and emulsion testing to specifications to modifications and illustrated the connection between the binder and / or emulsion and mixture performance.
Following these lectures (and a lunch break!), the group took a field trip across the property to the ATS Binder Lab. The group divided into smaller teams and rotated through stations with ATS Binder lab technicians. At the different stations, FDOT team members were able to learn and perform binder and emulsion tests.
Day two started back in the conference room learning about asphalt mixtures, plants and production. The lectures wrapped up with a section on asphalt construction and best practices. After a lunch break, the group toured the Duval Asphalt Plant, then split into groups to learn how to perform tests in the QC Lab and Performance Lab.
“I never knew there was so much involved in asphalt,” said an attendee. “Both production and testing!”
Based on survey results from the attendees, the hands-on lessons in the lab were found most useful. This workshop is successful because of the ability to teach attendees concepts, then have them apply what they learn right on site! “All your folks seem so passionate about what they do,” commented one of the attendees. “Everyone is so willing to share their knowledge.”
If you’re interested in scheduling the ATS Asphalt Workshop for you and / or your team, click here for more information.
