CREATES holds Inaugural Soil and Aggregate Certification Program

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

The Center for Research and Education in Advanced Transportation Engineering Systems (CREATES) of Rowan University hosted its first Soil and Aggregate Technician Certification program at the CREATES facilities’ lab January 28 – 31, 2018 at the South Jersey Tech Park. The course was attended by 12 federal, state and municipal engineers and technicians, and industry engineers. Over the course of 3 days, the attendees attended lectures held by industry and academic experts, as well as participating in hands-on laboratory demonstrations. Upon conclusion of the program, all attendees were tested on their knowledge of the coursework and were required to demonstrate their ability to execute the field tests demonstrated. Coursework was based on AASHTO R-25 standards and aligned perfectly with the CREATES mission “to conduct cutting edge, applied and readily implementable research in transportation engineering.”

Through this type of certification, benchmark levels of qualifications are established for both industry and agency personnel. In addition, the number of qualified technicians and their abilities can be increased at the same time. The need to establish this certification program was borne of the fact that it is not currently offered within the State of New Jersey.

CREATES hopes to offer this course on a regular basis and, based on the suggestions of this year’s participants, will look at offering an aspect of certification that is geared towards field construction operations. In the interim, CREATES is pleased to offer classes and workshops that benefits all industry personnel.