Pavement Preservation Center Established at CSU, Chico
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 27, 2006
Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Tom Ferrara
Civil Engineering
530-898-5329
Pavement Preservation Center Established at CSU, Chico
Caltrans has selected California State University, Chico for the site of the California Center for Pavement Preservation. The California center, funded by Caltrans with $1.8 million, will work closely with the Pavement Preservation Task Group (PPTG). PPTG is a volunteer group consisting of members from Caltrans, the pavement industry, local agencies and academia to help promote pavement preservation within the state.
The kick-off event for this partnership is a luncheon on Thursday, Sept. 28, beginning at noon, with a program of speakers following from 1 pm until 3:30 pm for 90 professionals and administrators from the pavement industry.
Pavement preservation activities such as routine maintenance, preventive maintenance and minor rehabilitation maintain and preserve the existing highway system in an optimum way. The Pavement Preservation Center is the result of Federal Highway Administration efforts to establish protocols and standards for pavement preservation that would be nationally accepted.
To address this challenge at the national level, the Foundation for Pavement Preservation (FP2) and the National Center for Pavement Preservation at Michigan State University have been established. To address the challenge at a local level, state centers needed to be established.
The California center will specialize in services for both governmental agencies and the private sector, including developing educational courses, providing training and staff development opportunities, providing technical assistance, managing research and offering outreach assistance.
In addition to the funding from Caltrans, the center will work with industry and government agencies to secure additional funds for the proposed activities.
R. Gary Hicks will serve as the technical director for the center. Hicks is retired as a professor of civil engineering from Oregon State University. He currently is an adjunct professor in the Department of Civil Engineering in the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management.
Tom Ferrara, also a professor of civil engineering in ECC, will be the center's director. Ferrara has taught at CSU, Chico since 1971 and successfully directed dozens of projects for the Research Foundation. He received his PhD in civil engineering from UC Davis.
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