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| The certification of asphalt technicians is a program by which it can be reasonably assured that both the DOT's quality assurance personnel and the Contractor's quality control personnel are knowledgeable and qualified to perform the required sampling, testing and inspection of asphalt mixtures and pavements. Certification will also include a general knowledge of the techniques and equipment used in the construction of asphalt pavements, including asphalt plant operations, placement operations and compaction operations. Under the NCDOT program, a technician may be certified in either mix design techniques, plant operations, roadway operations, nuclear density gauge operations, or all of these. Certification in either area will include some overlap into the other area. For example, a certification in plant operations will include a basic knowledge and understanding of roadway procedures, etc. This is required since it can be readily seen that proficiency in one area requires some general knowledge of the overall operation.
The certification program will be operated on a continuing basis. There will be classes and examinations scheduled throughout each year. In addition, there will be a continuous “on-the-job” training program for Level I plant & roadway technicians. The Pavement Construction Engineer will provide applications for and maintain a master training schedule of all related classes. Both the applications and schedule may be downloaded from this web site. Enrollment procedures for these training classes are also contained on this web site. All certifications will generally be effective for four years beginning from the date of passing the certification test and then must be renewed. Listed next are the different types of certifications
related to asphalt pavements and a basic job description for each. As mentioned previously, a technician may be certified as any one or more of these, or possibly all of these. Some certifications require a lower level certification before advancement to the next level of certification. QMS Level I Plant & QMS Roadway certifications require attendance and
satisfactory completion of the Introductory to Asphalt Pavements class.
1. QMS Level I Superpave Plant Technician - A Technician trained and competent in testing and inspection of Superpave asphalt mix at the plant. 2. QMS Level II Superpave Plant Technician - A Technician trained and competent in making Superpave mix adjustments and solving Superpave asphalt mix problems. 3. QMS Mix Sampling Technician - A Technician trained and competent in sampling of Superpave asphalt mix at the plant. 4. QMS Roadway Technician - A Technician trained and competent in roadway laydown, compaction, and density procedures. 5. QMS Nuclear Gauge Operator - A Technician trained and competent in the use of a nuclear density gauge in accordance with the QMS specification. 6. Superpave Mix Design Technician - A Technician trained and competent in the area of Superpave asphalt mix design procedures. A certificate will be issued for each type certification. Initial certification will generally be effective for four (4) years beginning from the date of passing the appropriate written exam, except that a Mix Sampling Technician Certification has no expiration. Failure of an exam will be cause for the person to re-attend the regular class and retake the exam. Upon satisfactory completion of all requirements, the technician will be issued a certificate. It should be noted that there is no certification for the Introduction to Asphalt Pavements Course. This is a very basic asphalt course designed to provide general knowledge of both plant and roadway operations to personnel with little or no experience. It is a prerequisite for several other certifications; therefore, a “completion” certificate will be issued to verify satisfactory completion. A written exam will be given at the end of the course and will be used to judge satisfactory completion. Technicians, whether NCDOT or Industry personnel, are subject to loss of certification by revocation. The primary reason for the loss of a certification by this means would be the falsifying of test results, records and/or reports. Other reasons that might lead to loss of certification include insubordination, gross negligence and apparent incompetence on the part of the technician. Any reported occurrence of the willful violation, misuse or abuse of this certification will be investigated by the NCDOT Pavement Construction Engineer and he will advise the State Roadway Construction Engineer of any findings and recommendations. Final revocation of the certification, when deemed appropriate, will be made in writing by the State Construction Engineer to the affected technician, with notification to all other applicable parties. The length of revocation shall also be determined by the State Construction Engineer |
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