Pipe School Transporation Track

Pipe School's New Transporation Track A Great Success

February 26, 2019

Walt Catlett, P.E., South Central Region Engineer, American Concrete Pipe Association 

t its 2019 Pipe School in January, the American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA) introduced an education track geared specifically to transportation professionals. The new Transportation Track joins ACPA’s existing Pipe School programs for Sales and Technical Marketing, Quality, Production, and Plant Management and offers a unique opportunity for transportation officials at every level to collaborate.

The ACPA has hosted this industry-leading forum for training and accreditation in the concrete pipe industry for more than a decade. Many would ask, “Why to add a Transportation Track?” In recent years, our Education Committee has seen an increase in participation among Departments of Transportation and public works agencies. We knew it was time to offer a forum dedicated to meeting these professionals’ unique needs.

In its introductory year, the Transportation Track was a great success and brought together some of the best and brightest minds in transportation across the country. It was a gathering house of ideas and insight sharing, where transportation officials spoke and shared thoughts about the issues they face and the innovative ways they’re addressing them.

The idea for the transportation-focused track was spearheaded by Derek Light from Rinker Materials and executed by ACPA’s Education Committee chair, Dan Sparr from Hancock Concrete Products. The Transportation Track’s success also came from the great support we received from state DOTs, public works departments, AE firms, and member companies that were eager to come to Pipe School and share their experiences on the topics that are essential to transportation departments, public works departments, and transportation professionals.

Highlights from 2019

The Transportation Track wouldn’t have been a success if it weren’t for the enthusiastic support of the transportation officials who attended and presented at our inaugural event. We’re thankful to all our presenters, as each one delivered information that truly benefitted the transportation professionals who attended.

We’re proud of some of this year’s highlights:

• Bridge Inspection with Oklahoma Turnpike Authority: Joe Echelle, P.E., and Shawn Davis delivered a class on fundamental visual inspection techniques, including bridge inspections with precast box culverts. Topics included the background knowledge necessary to understand how bridges function, such as:
  • how to communicate issues of national significance relative to the nation’s bridge infrastructures;
  • how to re-establish proper condition and appraisal rating practices; and
  • how to organize the professional obligations of bridge inspectors.
• Assessing Maintenance Condition with ALDOT: George Conner, P.E. from the Alabama Department of Transportation, shared his experiences on how maintenance condition assessment enables public agencies to communicate funding requirements to the decision-makers in a facts-supported message.
• ArDOTs Insight on Roadway Drainage: Chris Dailey, P.E. with the Arkansas Department of Transportation, addressed how state department maintenance personnel conducting roadway drainage assessments during their daily travels become an asset multiplier. This information properly gathered then allows an owner to make accurate data-based decisions.
• Failing Bridge/Culvert Solutions from DelDOT: Craig Stevens, P.E. from the Delaware Department of Transportation, shared DelDOT’s approach to the replacement of their failing corrugated metal pipes. His course included the different types of failure DelDOT has seen with its CMP inventory and how DelDOT tackled the issues of hundreds of failing CMPs.
• National Standards Update: Josh Beakley, P.E. from ACPA, gave a class on changes to national standards for the manufacture, installation, and design of buried pipe. Some changes are comprised of revisions to existing pipe standards, while other changes in the industry involve totally new standards.

Future Plans

Several attendees have already requested additional presentations, and we’ve received positive feedback from others like Lindsey Renner, P.E. with the Michigan Department of Transportation:

“I had such a great time learning and meeting some of the key players in the concrete pipe industry,” says Renner, P.E. “It was one of the best conferences I’ve been to.”

The Transportation Track will return to Pipe School, which will be held in San Marcos, Texas in January 2020. We’re looking forward to continuing the success of this unique opportunity to collaborate, learn and build relationships.

Working together, we’ll increase best-practice sharing in a collaborative learning environment. When we learn and grow as an industry, we know long-term benefits will come to our states and communities.

We want to hear from you. To learn more or provide feedback about Pipe School or the Transportation Track, contact me.