Subject:
Transportation Curriculum Coordination Council (TCCC)
Issue:
Rebuilding and maintaining the nation's highway construction workforce is an industry priority as agencies across the country face a serious shortage of trained and experienced personnel due to attrition and an aging workforce. At the same time cutting edge construction and system preservation technologies demand new skills and knowledgeable construction personnel.
FHWA Position:
Effort to train and certify highway construction personnel has intensified in recent years with the goal of improving the quality of highways and bridges, and to ensure compliance with Code of Federal Regulations, 23CFR, Part 637, Quality Assurance (QA). The FHWA has taken a proactive-role in this effort.
Background:
The past decade has witnessed the formation of five regional organizations in various parts of the country to concentrate on training and qualifying personnel involved in highway construction activities. These organizations are: Mid-Atlantic Technician Certification Program (MARTCP), New England Transportation Technician Certification Program (NETTCP), Southeast Taskforce on Technician Training and Certification (SETFTTC), North Central Multi-regional Training and Certification Program (M-Trac), and Western Alliance for Quality Transportation Construction (WAQTC). The concept for State Transportation Agencies, AASHTO, the FHWA, and the industry to work together in the development of core training materials began in the late 80's within the FHWA's Construction and Maintenance Division. In 1994 in an effort to improve Quality Control/Quality Assurance (QC/QA), joint technician training and certification programs were considered as an important tool in achieving quality construction.
Earlier hurdles and common goals included addressing Federal regulations, technician reciprocity, uniformity in procedure, qualifying personnel, resource sharing, and information sharing. Industry, which held many of the same interests, became partners in these efforts. While these achievements were both admirable and effective they also resulted in duplication of training efforts and inefficiencies in the usage of scarce State Departments of Transportation (DOT) and industry resources. The inefficiency of the process was further compounded as the program expanded from it's original, limited curriculum, to include all facets of highway construction and all levels of highway construction personnel. As a result of the early regional conferences and the recognition of duplication of training efforts, the Transportation Curriculum coordination Council (TCCC) was formed in September of 2000 in order to streamline the process and minimize inefficiencies.
The TCCC is a partnership between the FHWA, State Departments of Transportation (DOTs), and the highway transportation industry to support the training of the highway construction personnel. The Council is comprised of approximately 25 individuals representing the FHWA, American Association of State Highway Transportation (AASHTO), State DOTs, Associated General Contractors (AGC), American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA), American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), National Partnership for Highway Quality (NPHQ), and other industry associations. The TCCC's mission is to provide leadership at the national level, develop and maintain a national curriculum for various transportation disciplines, identify training and certification requirements, and coordinate/facilitate training efforts
Based on the recommendation for the development of a core training curriculum, by AASHTO's Standing Committee on Highways (SCOH) on December 1, 2001, the FHWA's Office of Asset Management initiated pooled fund project TPF-5(046), which is approved for use of Federal-aid funds for research and development studies without state matching. Participating States are authorized to proceed with the study using 100 percent State Planning and Research (SP&R) funding, Federal aid training funds, or other State funds. The pooled fund project will be administered for a 5-year period and will be used to facilitate management of the TCCC at the national level and for the development of curriculum and core training materials identified by the TCCC technical panel. The core curriculum development effort is focused on five major areas; Construction, Materials, Maintenance, Safety, and Employee Development.
To achieve its mission, the TCCC embraces the following objectives:
- Optimize resources through concentrated efforts in the development of core training and qualification mediums;
- Improve the skills and abilities of highway construction personnel;
- Promote the dissemination of information among regional and industrial organizations;
- Promote uniformity in training content and qualification requirements to facilitate reciprocity between States and regions; and
- Optimize the usage of AASHTO standards in training development.
Action Needed:
The TCCC will continue to provide leadership at national level to ensure proper training of all highway construction personnel in an attempt to improve highway construction quality. At present, the primary focus of the TCCC is the development of the core curriculum matrix. The matrix is to be used as a guide to determine training requirements and options available to meet those requirements. The Council has completed most of the matrix components and is targeting a draft matrix completion prior to its December semiannual meeting. Through the NHI, the Council intends to bring a contractor onboard to assist with the completion of the curriculum matrix. The Request for Proposal (RFP) will go out in August.
Additionally, the TCCC has developed a website, accessible to all construction personnel, for the purpose of disseminating information such as training requirements/courses, contact persons, and TCCC activities and news. The website is administered by the FHWA's Office of Asset Management. The site currently contains approximately 40 training courses including 2 new deep-foundation geotechnical courses. The website may be visited at www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/tccc. The TCCC will work with State DOTs to populate its website with existing training courses. Additionally, the TCCC will continue to capture existing materials and, in coordination with the NHI, develop new courses, where gaps are identified.
Furthermore, the TCCC is in the process of bringing a State DOT Chief Engineer to chair its steering committee.
Point of Contact:
Dan Sanayi, C&SP Engineer, Office of Asset Management, FHWA, office number: (202)493-0551, e-mail address: dan.sanayi@fhwa.dot.gov
Jim Sorenson, C&SP Team Leader, Office of Asset Management, FHWA, office number: (202)366-1333, e-mail address: jim.sorenson@fhwa.dot.gov
