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Regional Certification Programs Aim To Ensure a Qualified Workforce
When a State department of transportation (DOT) embarks on a new construction
or rehabilitation project, it usually relies not only on its own staff
to sample and test the materials used in construction, but also on personnel
working for various contractors. In an era of continually changing technologies
and advances in knowledge, DOTs are looking for assurance that these technicians,
whether they are State employees or contractors, are up to speed on the
latest methods and specifications. In response, some States have started
regional programs to test workers and to certify those who meet a basic
set of standards.
This increased emphasis on ensuring the use of highly trained workers
is also reflected in a new Federal regulation requiring the use of qualified
technicians on Federal-aid highway projects after June 29, 2000.
Under most of the existing regional certification programs, technicians
who pass written and performance examinations in one State earn the certification
ranking, which allows them to automatically be considered certified in
other States that are part of the regional coalition. “Certification
means fewer headaches for States,” says George Jones of the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA). State DOTs that contract out work benefit
from knowing how much training the contractor’s technicians have
had. Contractors who work in more than one State benefit from not having
to spend time and money to get their technicians certified in each State.
One such regional certification program is the Western Alliance for Quality
Transportation Construction (WAQTC). The alliance is a partnership between
11 western States and FHWA. WAQTC’s initiatives include the Transportation
Technician Qualification Program, which provides instruction and testing
for technicians in the areas of aggregates, asphalt, concrete, in-place
density, and embankment/base construction. The program’s benefits
include standardized procedures, greater quality control, and reciprocity
agreements between States. WAQTC also runs the Laboratory Qualification
Program, which ensures that all laboratories that perform materials sampling
and testing functions for a State agency comply with certification criteria
adopted by WAQTC member agencies.
Other regional programs include the North Central Multi-Regional Certification
Group (M-Trac), which covers eight States, and the Southeastern Certification
Program, which is just getting underway, according to Wouter Gulden at
Georgia DOT. “Our first step is to identify the challenges,”
says Gulden. “What is acceptable to all regional States? Who keeps
the data? What is common ground for training?” To explore these challenges,
Gulden is working to establish a regional task force.
A fourth regional effort—the 3-year-old New England Transportation
Technician Certification Program (NETTCP)—differs from the other
regional programs in that workers are actually certified by NETTCP, rather
than the six individual States.
A proposed new American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO) recommended practice for materials sampling and testing
certification programs is intended to help set consistent guidelines for
States to follow. This will allow the various regional programs to take
the next step of extending reciprocity agreements between the programs,
so that, for example, a technician certified by NETTCP would also be considered
certified by the States that belong to M-Trac or WAQTC. As the proposed
resolution notes, such reciprocal agreements “will lower the States’
and contractors’ cost of doing business while ensuring high quality
testing is performed.” And by improving worker performance, States
should realize “longer lasting roads and more effective use of taxpayer
dollars while providing an improved infrastructure for the traveling public.”
The proposed recommended practicewill be voted on this month by the AASHTO
subcommittees on construction and materials. If passed, the resolution
will be forwarded to the AASHTO standing committee on highways for consideration.
FHWA sponsored two workshops this year to examine the issue of whether
the existing regional certification efforts should be merged into a broader
national certification program. Workshop participants included representatives
from State DOTs, FHWA, AASHTO, the National Asphalt Pavement Association,
and the American Concrete Institute.
The workshop participants concluded that based on the strong regional
programs already flourishing, a national program is not necessarily needed.
Byron Lord of FHWA noted that instead of setting up a new national program,
“what we’re talking about is giving the stamp of approval to
what’s already going on.” To help coordinate links between the
various regional programs that are underway, workshop participants are
considering forming a steering committee, with FHWA as the lead partner.
For more information on the draft AASHTO resolution or the proposed committee,
contact George Jones at FHWA, 202-366-1554 (fax: 202-366-9981; email:
george.jones@fhwa.dot.gov). For more information on regional certification
programs, see sidebar.
Regional Certification Program Contacts
New England Transportation Technician Certification Program
Contact: Paul Matthews at New Hampshire DOT, 603-271-1662 (fax:
603-271-1649; email: n42prm@dot.state.nh.us).
North Central Multi-Regional Certification Group
Contact: Chris Anderson at Iowa DOT, 515-239-1819 (fax: 515-239-1092;
email: canders@max.state.ia.us).
Southeastern Certification Program
Contact: Wouter Gulden at Georgia DOT, 404-363-7510 (fax: 404-362-4925;
email: wouter.gulden@dot.state.ga.us).
Western Alliance for Quality Transportation Construction
www.waqtc.org
Contact: Tom Baker at Idaho DOT, 208-334-8439 (fax: 208-334-4411;
email: tbaker@idt.state.id.us)
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