By Lorella Angelini, Angelini Consulting Services, LLC

There is always something new to learn when you speak with Tim Woolery, the Vice-President of Advanced Chemical Technologies (ACT) (see LINK) out of Oklahoma City, OK.  Tim has an extensive knowledge of protective sealers, both in the Lab and in the field. He is also very familiar with bridge preservation having been an active and enthusiastic member of the TSP2 Bridge Preservation Partnership since its beginning.

Could you speak of your career that led you to be the Vice-President of ACT?

About 10 years ago, after spending 30 years with a wood coating company specializing in solvent-based finishes, I was ready to move on and do something that would be more fun.

It happened that Kevin Brown, the owner of ACT, asked me to come on board and join the company. I remember saying something like this to him: “I want to attend a trade show, and, if it looks fun, then we will talk about your proposal”. So, I went to the NEBPP TSP2 bridge preservation meeting in Newport, RI. It was my very first experience with the TSP2 Partnership. After I got there and worked the show, I realized how committed the attendees were to bridge preservation. I also recognized the value of contributing to the maintenance and restoration of our country’s infrastructure. Definitively, the bridge preservation business looked like a worthwhile venture, something I would really enjoy getting into. That’s kind of how it started, from participating in a TSP2 show 8 years ago.

I went from materials for the protection of wood to materials for the protection of concrete. However, the fact that I had to deal with a completely different substrate, chemistry-wise it was an easy transition for me.

Are you involved with the design of chemical formulations and with new product development at ACT?

Yes, I love working on Lab projects, then moving to the field for trials and finally to a saleable product. When I was in the wood coating business, I ran the Laboratory for 11 years, also doing new product development.

Working on the formulation of new, innovative materials for ACT is one of my pleasures.  We developed silanes with corrosion inhibitors and we have just completed a new silane product that provides both oil and water repellency.

This new product, which is designed for parking garages, protects concrete floors from stains caused by oil drippings. Cars are always leaking oil thereby making a garage floor look bad, as if it has never been cleaned. Owners want to be able to clean the oil off by power washing. The new water and oil repellent silane product from ACT makes it possible. Oil drippings bead up instead of soaking in and flattening out and therefore they can be easily removed.

What are your responsibilities as the Vice-President of ACT?

In addition to helping with the Laboratory, I am responsible for ACT Customer Service and Sales. We have 7 independent representatives to promote our products around the country.

What are your core values as a leader of ACT? And what expectations do you have for your employees?

I can summarize my values in three words: participation, education and fun.

I grew up professionally in the culture of an employee-owned company, where everybody acts like an owner and participates in the business. To do so, it is essential that employees have the proper education. In other words,  they must be equipped with information that can allow them to make good decisions. I do not want my employees to ask me what the right decision is for them to make. I want my employees to be educated so that they can take good decisions on their own. This is also essential for their personal and professional growth.

If you participate in the business and have the necessary tools, work should be fun. If work is not fun and if you cannot work with enthusiasm, it is better to quit and choose a different job.

I expect that my employees at ATC be dedicated, enthusiastic and passionate about the business. I do not want them to be reactive, just answer the phone, do quotes, etc. I want them to know why they are doing what they do, have a knowledge, be proactive and really participate. When I am travelling, I do not worry about my phone ringing all the time. I have a great team of people who is able to step in for me and take care of the customers.

ACT offers a number of silane-based sealers for the protection of concrete and masonry. What are your most successful products for bridge preservation?

In 1976 ACT was the first importer of silane sealers in the USA. The company has been in the silane business out of Oklahoma since 1977. It was in Oklahoma in 1977 that, for the first time in the USA, silane sealers were used to protect a concrete bridge.

After many years, we have added epoxies healer-sealers, overlay systems and corrosion inhibitors to the product line. However, silane remains the core and most successful product of ACT.

I understand that ACT’s product offer has moved from the 40% to the 100% solid formulation for silane sealers. Why?

The reason why 40% reactive sealers were formulated depended on the fact that silanes used to be super-expensive. In the late 70s it was not even conceivable to sell silanes for $100 per gallon. Reducing the concentration to 40% made silanes more affordable. Today, with more silane producers around the world, it is possible to get the 100% reactive formulation at a reasonable price.

What are the challenges that ACT has encountered in promoting its products for bridge preservation? Do you have any advice for overcoming these challenges?

Probably the main challenge we have encountered entails the process of approving products in the Qualified Product List (QPL) or Approved Product List (APL) of the Departments of Transportation (DOT). The management of this process is complex. It also varies from State to State since each DOT is organized differently from another.

The process can also be expensive. For example, in 2019 a DOT required the NCHRP 244 Northern Exposure test in order to keep our product in the Approved Listing. All the other States use the Southern Exposure test. Nobody had really run the Northern Exposure test. So, we had to run an additional test that costed $8,000. If for whatever reason, we had not passed that test, we would have needed to run it again thus doubling the cost.

The DOT approval process is definitively a major challenge. The other challenge entails dealing with silane specifications that have not been written clearly or are too vague.

My advice is simply to have patience. You must solve one problem at a time.

What about do you think of inviting people who are in charge of DOT approvals at TSP2 Bridge Preservation meetings?

It would be a good idea to invite the “Materials Division” engineers to the TSP2 meetings because ultimately these people decide which products can be used for bridge preservation.

Having the Material Division Engineers attending the breakout sessions together with Engineers form the Bridge Office and Bridge Maintenance Leadership would add great value to the conversations at TSP2 meetings.

In addition to bridge preservation, ACT is active in other sectors, such as parking garages and architecture.  Can you make a comparison between the challenges that you have encountered in these fields Vs bridge preservation?

Silane projects for parking garage floors are a sizeable part of our business. On the other hand, we are not overly strong in what we call the vertical architectural market. This is an area of opportunity that we are working on.

The use of a product in the DOT business is based on the approval of the product by the DOT and its inclusion in the QPL or APL, while in the parking garage and architectural business the product must be in the specifications. To do so, it is essential to pay a service, like MasterSpec, since architects download the specs from these portals. One cannot grow the business going to one architect at the time. It is too slow.

With parking garages, it is essential to be specified by consultants like Walker or Desman. If you can get them to put your product in the specs, then they send these specifications out to all their offices throughout the country. This is a good way to get business. Otherwise, as I said before, you have to be on those engines that the architects use for specs. If you are in, you have a chance to be specified. If you are not specified, it is really a hard time convincing a contractor to change the specifications.

How has the business changed for ACT during the recent months when we are copying with the COVID pandemic?

Not travelling has been the biggest change since the pandemic began. Typically, I travel two weeks every month, participating in conferences, training events, demonstrations and sales calls. So far this year I have not flown at all. However, I have driven to several states to work with county maintenance crews to help establish bridge preservation programs using silanes.

I also participated in my first Zoom presentation as a presenter for the International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) conference. Even though I prefer speaking to a “live” audience, it turned out well and I had an opportunity to answer questions.

You are a member of the Innovation Technology Demonstration (ITD) TSP2 National Working Group.  Could you speak of the value that ITD brings to bridge preservation?

I think the ITD program is a great concept.  It represents a faster way to get new and innovative products adopted by the Departments of Transportations (DOTs).

One of the challenges I see with this program is that the ITD process goes from industry to DOTs, while it should be the opposite. DOTs should call industry asking for innovative products and services that meet their needs. Industry should respond to this call. Otherwise industry runs the risk of developing innovative solutions for what they perceive as major problems, which, however, may not be a concern for the DOTs.

I am not sure that all DOTs quite understand the concept of ITD. To facilitate this understanding, there should be more DOT representatives in the ITD Working Group team. I also think that ITD presentations at the TSP2 Bridge Preservation meetings should be done by the DOTs involved with this program rather than by industry representatives. My concern is that ITD presentations can be perceived as “sales oriented” rather than presentations that focus on innovative “solutions” to DOT problems.

You have been participating in TSP2 Bridge Partnership meetings, both National and Regional, as a vendor for several years. Has ACT benefitted from your participation in these meetings and how?

It always boils down to people. When you come to these events you get to meet a number of bridge preservation people. You develop relationships that usually don’t happen across the desk at office meetings.  Even more important, you can gain the trust of the DOT people, who can appreciate your technical expertise, your willingness to participate in the meeting events and your commitment to bridge preservation.

I am a committed believer in the TSP2 program and in what this program is doing. I show my commitment by giving presentations, participating in the round tables and being available to share knowledge. Hopefully over the years people have come to recognize me as a resource to the bridge preservation community.

The participation in the TSP2 events has been truly beneficial to ACT’s growth. Before getting into this business, I did not know anything about bridges and what was done to maintain them. I have learned a lot and gotten a great education through the program.

Before getting into this business, I did not know anything about bridges and what was done to maintain them. I have learned a lot and gotten a great education through the program. TSP2 has been very valuable to me personally.

When TSP2 meetings are going to restart in 2021, what are your recommendations to vendors in order to take the maximum advantage from their participation?

I think that vendors who attend the TSP2 Bridge Preservation meetings and sit at their booth all the time do not understand the value of these meetings. My advice is for the vendors to be active participants, sit at the conference and learn about the problems that DOTs have and the solutions they adopt. It is also important to participate in round-table discussions, hearing conversations and questions. Otherwise one does not get to know DOT’s concerns and needs. In summary, vendors have to get out of the booth, participate in meetings, and be a potential resource for the solutions to problems.

When I present silane sealers at TSP2 meetings, I position myself as a resource for the bridge preservation community. I never mention the commercial names of ACT products. I do sell my products but I share my knowledge and experience with the silane technology. If the silane technology becomes more widely adopted, it will be good for everybody in the industry, including ACT. Rising tide lifts all boats.

Can you share something about your personal life? How do you do like spending your free time?

I live in Oklahoma, so hunting and fishing have always been my spare time passion. Big game hunting and upland bird hunting keep me busy during the fall and winter months. In the summer I can be found at Lake Eufaula fishing and dragging grandkids on skis behind a boat.

LINKS

Advanced Chemical Technologies (ACT)

Jeremy Hunters, Chief Engineer with Indiana DOT

By Lorella Angelini, Angelini Consulting Services, LLC

Jeremy Hunter is Chief Engineer with the Indiana Department of Transportation and past Chair of the Mid-West Bridge Preservation Partnership. As a leader, Jeremy adopts a collaborative approach method that facilitates solving issues and advancing programs. Bridge preservation is certainly an advanced program at Indiana DOT. This State can proudly show a remarkable track record of 94% of bridges in good or fair condition. My conversation with Jeremy starts with a question about this record.

According to the Federal Highway Administration (see LINK), Indiana’s bridges exceed the national average for safety, with 94% of bridges in fair or good condition. CNBC (see LINK) classifies Indiana as the State with the best 2019 Infrastructure Score. What are the reasons for this impressive data?

Team work and communication are key elements of how Indiana DOT has been able to reach such a remarkable score. Those two are really critical elements. When we think of an engineering program, we tend to characterize it through its technical aspects, while its successful completion usually depends on well-executed team work and effective communication.

What I have always focused on throughout my career with the Agency is how we make bridge preservation practitioners feel as if they are part of the solution, and how we give them proper tools and resources to be successful. Communication is a very important tool. It means making sure that everybody who has an idea or individuates a problem, feels comfortable communicating the idea or the problem, whether this person is on the frontline or in a director-type of role.

Can you make an example of the collaborative approach method that you encourage?

At Indiana DOT we have adopted techniques for bridge waterproofing, including both older and newer bridges. These techniques keep water under control and prevent it from wearing out structural materials. At Indiana DOT waterproofing is a pivotal element of the bridge preservation program. One of the reasons the program functions so well is that anybody who notices something that might be a waterproofing issue, feels confident to signal it, makes everybody aware of the issue, and asks for solutions that can be adopted.  This is where team-work, collaboration and communication come in. People in all areas of the Agency are comfortable with this approach. If they see something that needs to be repaired, they do not let it get to a point that becomes a problem but they signal it right away. Then they try to come up with a solution as quickly as possible.

I understand that this method values employees, especially those who are proactive and expert. Am I correct?

Yes, people come first. Our asset management system is only as good as the people that put information into it. The more informed inspectors and maintenance professionals are, the more they communicate with each other about best practices and right solutions, the more valuable is the data they enter into the system. Building a comprehensive asset management system always starts with the people that select and compile data.

What are the metrics that Indiana DOT adopts for its successful bridge preservation program?

I am not keen on the use of metrics. I do not like focusing on the current status, or where we are at the moment. If we judge ourselves by the metrics, we will very likely end up relaxing and not moving forward. We want to judge ourselves based on different criteria. For example, we continuously improving? Are we learning new strategies? Are we coming up with new, innovative solutions? Are we developing relationships that teach us what we need to know to do our job better tomorrow?

In my line of thinking our bridge program is successful if everybody is continually learning, improving and finding innovation. If we do that, then we will see that our metrics will continue to get better. We want to go from good to great. We do not settle for less.

What challenges are Indiana DOT facing in order to keep bridges in good and fair conditions?

Training is our major challenge, but it is also an opportunity. We need to continue to learn how to train the next generation that is entering the Agency. Personnel will come and go at Indiana DOT, as in any other major organization and industry. What will determine whether we can sustain our current score and improve on it, depends on how we will be able to integrate new personnel into our existing teams. We need to continuously be able to add and train new people, and help them become the best they can be.

You served as the Chair on the Midwest Bridge Preservation Partnership board. Could you speak of your experience with the TSP2 Partnership?

Participating in the Partnership has been an amazing experience for me. I had no idea how rewarding being a part of the Partnership would have been when I first got involved with it.

The Midwest Partnership gathers an amazing team of bridge engineers and practitioners who actually deal with the same challenges and have similar opportunities. Being able to share knowledge with this team has been of great value to me. Before joining the Partnership there were many times when I had an idea for solving a problem but I did not have information on whether the idea was good or not. Thanks to the Partnership I can now call my counterpart in another State and get feedback. Some Midwestern States have in fact tried solutions that have never been implemented in Indiana. Sharing solutions and lessons learned make every State in the Partnership better.

Being able to learn and grow from the relationships that I have developed, having the opportunity to see what the other States are doing, being able to ask questions about challenges or the implementation of new solutions and innovative techniques, these have been the major and the most exciting assets that I gained from being part of the Partnership.

You are a member of two TSP2 Working Groups, the “Preservation Matrix” and “Bridge Preservation Research”. Could you briefly speak about these Working Groups?

The preservation matrix (see LINK) is an easy way to summarize and showcase the different solutions that each State is adopting for bridge deck overlay.

Within bridge preservation there is a large number of solutions and technologies that can be implemented. You cannot honestly try to utilize all of them. You have to choose what you think is going to be the right solution for your problem in your State. The matrix is beneficial in helping with this choice. It has been very rewarding for me being able to have such an exchange of information with the preservation matrix team.

Being part of the preservation research team has been equally rewarding. So much research gets done throughout the Midwest and the USA that it is not always easy to know what research has already been done and then learn about its results. The Working Group has responded to this need with a comprehensive research report (see LINK).  The team has also helped identify research needs. We are always faced with new problems to solve and new challenges to overcome. Research is a very powerful tool to address these issues and individuate solutions.

Do you have a success story that you would like to highlight?

My success story entails the relationship with the TSP2 Bridge Preservation Partnership. I have learned so much from the Partnership that I have been able to implement new preservation actions at Indiana DOT, which have been of benefit to the State.

At the beginning of my career, I spent 14 years as a consulting bridge designer. When I joined Indiana DOT, I did not really know a lot about bridge preservation because I had not been exposed to the concept as much in design. My first job with the DOT was what they call bridge asset engineer. In a nutshell it means taking the best care of the bridges you manage and being a good steward of public resources. At that time, I did not know exactly what the best bridge preservation strategies were. So, getting involved with the Partnership, learning what bridge preservation means, being able to talk to bridge engineers who had knowledge and experience about it, helped me tremendously in my job.

Could you provide some additional background information about your professional career?

I have accepted the position of Chief Engineer at Indiana DOT on February 2019. Prior to that I was the Director of Bridge Design at Indiana DOT. For most of my career I have been in bridge design, bridge maintenance, bridge inspection, asset management. I graduated as an engineer 21 years ago from Purdue University.

Can you share something about your personal life? How do you do like spending your free time?

I love music. I am a musician who plays guitar and sings. This is what I spend a lot of my free time doing. I like a wide variety of music from jazz, to country, rock, pop and blues. The time that I spend playing music is very rewarding, because it allows me to feel free and creative.

LINKS

NBI – 2018 Bridge Condition by Highway System

CNBC – Trump and Dems agree America’s infrastructure needs a $2 trillion fix. These 5 states are in the best shape in 2019

MWBPP: Bridge Deck Overlay Product Matrix

MWBPP:  Bridge Preservation Research Report

Prof. Higgins at the top of the tower of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan

By Lorella Angelini, Angelini Consulting Services, LLC

Prof. Chris Higgins is the academic director for the TSP2 Western Bridge Preservation Partnership. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to TSP2, including a pragmatic approach to bridge preservation problems, striving to obtain quantified outcomes from implemented actions. Many of his research findings have become standard practice and are included into design specifications. His research on load evaluation of reinforced concrete bridges in Oregon has saved up to $500 million to Oregon’s taxpayers. I had the opportunity to speak in person with Prof. Higgins recently.

Could you introduce yourself to the readers of the blog?

I am a professor of Structural Engineering at Oregon State University in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering. I have been doing this job for more than 20 years.

Before joining Oregon State University, I taught at Clarkson University in Upstate New York. This was my first teaching job after getting my PhD. Before going back to school for the PhD, I worked for a consulting engineering firm. This experience differentiates me from most of my colleagues, who have been academics the whole time. Working in the private sector was a very valuable experience for me. I had the opportunity to work on existing structures, a practice that actually led me to bridge preservation.  Existing structures in fact present much more challenges and have much more complex problems than new structures.

Do you mean the challenge of having inherent design limitations?

Right, there are a lot more criteria that come to play when working on existing structures in comparison with new structures. New design is like a blank piece of paper. You can always fill it up with whatever you like. On the other hand, when you have an existing structure, you must be able to design taking into account a lot of constraints. I like this type of challenge. It is where my interest in working on existing structures comes from.

Could you point out other significant steps in your education and career?

Before taking the PhD at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, I did my undergraduate at Marquette University in Wisconsin and my master at University of Texas in Austin.

As I mentioned earlier, my first academic job was in New York State. Then I moved from New York to Oregon, where I live. I have lived in Oregon longer than any other place in my life.

What are the most important achievements in your career?

What I value the most are the students that I have the opportunity to mentor, particularly my graduate students. While a lot of people may not recognize that as an outcome of the academic world, the quality of our students can be regarded as the most valuable and impactful product that we produce. If you think in terms of echo and reverberation, the impact that these students will have on people and future generations is very big and lasts long.

Students are my priority. I tend to be a professor whose philosophy is “do no harm”. It is important for me to “make students better” and “take out their greatest strengths”. However, “do no harm” comes first for me.

Can you describe your practice?

I am mostly known for the work on load evaluation I did with my team when I first started at Oregon State University. In Oregon they had an issue with older, conventionally reinforced concrete bridges that were classified as deficient. At the time of their construction, designers were heavily relying on the strength from concrete thereby putting in the least amount of steel they possibly could. Detailing practices were also insufficient. The design was not poor for the standards of the time, but the state of the art is constantly evolving. It is a fact that the state of the art is constantly evolving. What the state of the art was yesterday, we can recognize as having problems today.

There was a huge need to do remediation and replacement work on the concrete bridges that had difficulties in Oregon since they all showed significant cracking. However, there was also the need to improve our ability to understand the actual condition of these bridges by using more advanced methods of analysis. We established an extensive experimental program focusing on full scale girders, with the goal to evaluate real remaining capacity. We also wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of available engineering tools to look at direct liability analysis, working on both sides of the problem, not just the resistance but also the load effect.

Taking into consideration that Oregon allows vehicles exceeding the Federal standards, we looked at what the real uncertainty of load effects would produce on these older bridges. By doing so we were able to save up to $500 million for the repair and replacement of Oregon bridges.

Could you expand upon the load effect concept?

It simply entails using a better method of analysis to calculate the capacity of bridges to carry load. If you use an old method, you get one answer. If you use a more current method, such as the modified compression theory that is adopted in Oregon, you will get a different answer. By adopting the more current method, we calculated additional load carrying capacity for the bridges in Oregon.

Is the load evaluation method also related to bridge posting?

No, it is not about posting bridges. We are actually trying to avoid posting bridges, since it creates a lot of problems and has a costly impact to the public in terms of both money and safety.

In Oregon we were the first to re-calibrate the load factors of bridges for the specific truck-loading conditions we have. So rather than using the national standard for load factors, we calibrated these factors to our unique conditions.

The load effect is not produced by a single truck but by a combination of trucks. Different states have different types of truck permits. They also have a different number of permits that they can issue, which changes the likelihood of two trucks being side by side over a bridge. In Oregon we were able to define load factors that are realistic and in line with size and number of trucks that will likely use our bridges. Previous load factors were simply too high.

Is it fair to say that the load factor is a sort of flexible indicator?

Yes, it is definitively a flexible factor. For example, when we were looking at the data, we learned that, from a probabilistic standpoint, bridges become safer during a recession.

Are there less trucks driving during a recession?

Yes. Who would have thought that safety of bridges, in terms of reliability assessment, is so strictly linked to the economy? We are actually interested in working with an economist to look at how bridge safety is impacted by the economy. It is an interesting cross-disciplinary research that broadens the way you look at bridges and their safety.

I know that Oregon DOT is also in the forefront of adopting techniques, such as strengthening, that increase the resistance of structural elements. Could you speak about it?

I would say that 90% of my work is related to existing structures, mainly bridges. My focus is on how to better evaluate these bridges, how to determine if they can carry the required loads, and how to strengthen them. We have looked at all kinds of materials and technologies for strengthening, from adding supplemental steel, both external and internal, and near surface-mounted materials, such as carbon fiber. We have also adopted titanium as a new material for strengthening.

Based on the evaluation of advantages and disadvantages for each of these technologies, we have a preference for the use of titanium. This material is metallic, high strength, and ductile. It can be bent, thus providing a good mechanical anchor to the concrete substrate, rather than just relying on bonding. Not only does the titanium provide high strength performance properties but also long-term durability.

At Oregon State University we have a unique facility that accommodates a strong floor in an environmental chamber so that we can simulate an array of conditions that actually occur with bridges. For example, we can bounce structural elements up and down applying mechanical stresses that would simulate truck traffic. We can subject the elements to environmental distress caused by freezing and thawing. We can tailor the magnitude of the stresses that we are producing mechanically with field measurements so as to create the conditions for accelerating damage.

For a lot of construction materials, we find that if we just test their strength on the laboratory floor, we get one answer. If we bounce up and down the structure made with the material, so as to have high-cycle fatigue, we get a second answer. If we just subject the material to environmental exposure, we have a third different answer. By combining fatigue with environment and then testing strength, we find, in some instances, a negative synergy. It can be said that the combined influence of fatigue with environment is more harmful than any other combination of induced stress.

This concept is especially true for concrete structures. Cracks that are usually present in concrete open under the stress induced by traffic and water can get sipped in. When the stress goes away, cracks close but some of the water gets entrapped and it is not pumped out. When this water freezes, concrete begins to deteriorate. If you use a strengthening system that only relies on the chemical bond at the surface, where freeze-thaw cycles happen at a high rate, you can likely experience the deterioration of the bond.

Does your research program entirely focus on bridge preservation?

Yes, and take into consideration that bridge preservation in the West coast also includes seismic retrofitting. If you can keep an existing bridge in service by retrofitting targeted areas so as to achieve seismic performance objectives, you can save a lot of money to DOTs and other owners.

Can you speak of your role as academic director for the TSP2 Western Bridge Preservation Partnership?

I have been academic director probably the shortest length of time between the four directors. So, I am still trying to see how I fit into this puzzle.

The Partnership shows just how common bridge preservation problems are. They are not unique to one state as they cross geo-political boundaries. For this reason, a lot of problems are better solved by the community of bridge preservation practitioners rather than by the individuals. Creating teams of practitioners, who share similar problems, and experts, who can help address those problems, is part of my responsibility as an academic director.

The Partnership has given me new ideas about problems that need to be solved. Every month during the Western Bridge Preservation Partnership conference calls, I learn about new problems and what DOT practitioners are doing to tackle them.

In summary, as a TSP2 academic director for the Western Partnership I learn about new bridge preservation challenges that DOTs are facing and I use my connections in the academic community to address those issues.

Based on your experience at Oregon State University, are civil engineering students aware of bridge preservation programs? Are they interested in these problems?

Bridge preservation is linked to existing materials, analysis and design. Most of our academic training is related to new materials, new design, latest codes, and new construction. However, Oregon State offers courses that deal with existing structures. These are elective for undergraduate as well as graduate students.

In my bridge engineering course, we deal with existing structures’ rating and evaluations but we do not have time to go into specific preservation actions.

I can say that at Oregon State we have more classes than most of the other Universities addressing existing structures, both the evaluation and the rehabilitation side.  However, while the training is out there, it is not organized in a unifying program. From the outside, one would not likely be able to see it. It is available to the students in pieces but not in a holistic way.

What could TSP2 do to increase awareness of bridge preservation in the academic environment?

In 2019 I participated in all the four TSP2 Bridge Partnership Meetings. At each meeting I met only one or two academics. Definitively TSP2 could increase participation from academia in their meetings.

TSP2 is a very practitioner-applied group of people, who need to solve real problems that are faced today. On the other hand, academics tend to be more “blue sky”, that’s a generality, of course. So, bridge preservation practitioners and academics are somehow like oil and water, they do not mix easily.  However, I think there is a larger amount of “oil” and “water” that can be mixed together through TSP2.

We can reach out to academic communities that are actively working locally in areas of mutual interest across the different groups. We may be able to pull more academics in, which would be beneficial to the needs of the TSP2 bridge preservation community.

I particularly recommend reaching out to academics who are involved in research since research is a skill set that can bring immediate value to TSP2.

How can TSP2 attract students, young people who can be interested in having a career in bridge preservation?

Most of my students choose to work in the building world. A good number though have taken state DOT positions or are bridge practitioners in consulting firms.  These jobs are attractive to most of them.

I think that Community Colleges, which are a second academic community, could successfully engage with bridge preservation.  Being applied industrial arts the focus of these colleges, their students are likely to be well suited to the needs of bridge maintenance as well as the people who would likely employ them.

Sarah Sondag., Principal Engineer with MnDOT

By Lorella Angelini, Angelini Consulting Services, LLC

A registered Professional Engineer in the State of Minnesota, Sarah Sondag is the Bridge Operations Support Engineer with the Bridge Office at Minnesota DOT. She is a prominent advocate for bridge preservation as is evident from the programs that she supports at Minnesota DOT. Sarah is active with TSP2 where she sits on the Board of the Midwest Bridge Preservation Partnership, as Vice Chair representing the States.

I had a conversation with Sarah, who like myself lives in the Twin Cities, about her career and her vision for bridge preservation.

Could you outline the pivotal points of your professional career?

After earning a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree and a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota, I started my professional career with Mark Thomas & Company in San Jose’, California. I worked for that company for three years on a wide range of design projects, from highway to flood walls.

I then moved to Duluth, Minnesota, where I started with the Minnesota Department of Transportation in District 1. I was hired as a graduate engineer and rotated through different areas within the District, including hydraulics and soils, before ending in construction as a Project Engineer. After having my first child, I went part-time and focused on specialized projects. One of these projects entailed the creation of a database for construction documentation with the goal of providing easier methods to collect data in the field. After my second child, I transferred to the Traffic Department, where I was the Work Zone Safety Engineer, assisting maintenance and construction crews with work zone layout and safety. I also assisted the crews with traffic control plans for bridge inspection and maintenance, and with traffic management plans.

While I was in District 1, I was given the opportunity to develop a database for bridge maintenance activity tracking. This opportunity ultimately led to my transfer to the Bridge Office in Oakdale, in the eastern side of the Minneapolis – St. Paul Metropolitan area. I was hired as the Bridge Operations Support Engineer, a new position created in the Bridge Office to provide greater support for Minnesota DOT’s District bridge maintenance crews.

One of my first assignments with the Bridge Office entailed coordinating the integration of the bridge maintenance activity tracking system into Minnesota’s bridge inspection software. It required detailing the requirements to track bridge maintenance activities for our crews and tying these activities to inspection findings within the software.

One of my other main responsibilities was to evaluate best practices, with the objective to update the bridge maintenance manual and provide useful resources for our bridge maintenance crews. A Bridge Maintenance Supervisor was hired to assist me in supporting the Districts.  Ultimately, opening communication lines between our District bridge crews and the Bridge Office was an important piece in promoting consistent best practices statewide.

The Bridge Office had created a Bridge Maintenance Supervisor Organization with the goal to facilitate communication between this Office and the Districts and to assist with promoting consistency, efficiency and best practices statewide. We hold semi-annual meetings with Bridge Maintenance Supervisors and lead workers from all of the Districts as well as a safety and training workshop every two years for all of our bridge workers. We exchange ideas, promote best practices, discuss challenges and issues, and explore new technologies and innovation. We also devised task groups within the organization, which work as a vehicle to raise construction or design issues experienced by the crews to the Bridge Operation Support Unit and ultimately to the Structural Standards Research Committee in the Bridge Office.

You are saying that providing tools for bridge preservation practitioners is a good practice but it may not be sufficient. These tools should be supported by a strong communication exchange between the field and the office in order to create the conditions for cultural change. Is this at the core of Minnesota DOT communication policy that you have explained?

Yes, but there is more. We realized that we also needed a way to transfer knowledge more effectively to crew members.  In 2010, the Minnesota DOT had a high turnover due to early retirement incentives. We lost approximately half of our bridge maintenance crew members and seven of the seventeen bridge maintenance supervisors. Had this continued to happen, we would have lost a lot of knowledge. We decided to begin working toward the implementation of a Bridge Maintenance Training Program to capture some of this institutional knowledge before it was lost.

We started with a skills assessment evaluation in order to understand the needs of the crews. We sent questionnaires to our Districts asking about their level of experience with bridge maintenance activities, tools and equipment, along with everything else we thought the crews would need to know.

Instructors and Assistant Instructors at MnDOT BMA

Was Minnesota DOT able to capture its in-house knowledge before so many bridge preservation experts retired?

Yes, this did happen through the development of the Bridge Maintenance Academy. Based on the statewide skills’ assessment, we defined our top training needs. For some of these needs we could work with technical colleges and outside training vendors. However, for routine bridge maintenance tasks, we realized that we would need to create some sort of in-house academy. We also recognized that it was essential to have hands-on classes instead of just PowerPoint presentations. We certainly needed introductory courses surrounding bridge basics and what bridge preservation entails. However, we were convinced that in order for our crews to really learn, it was necessary that the Academy be hands-on and participants be able to actually read plans and work with tools, equipment and materials. We brought in our more experienced supervisors as lead and assistant instructors. We also contracted with two former Bridge Maintenance Supervisors that had retired from the Minnesota DOT to assist with the hands-on portion of the class.

Bridge Maintenance Academy was originally set up as three separate week-long courses.  Bridge Maintenance Academy I consists of primarily classroom sessions introducing topics such as bridge mechanics, bridge components and elements, bridge design concepts, plan reading, introduction to basic types of materials like concrete and steel, as well as an introduction to preservation, traffic control and safety.  Bridge Maintenance Academy II and III are hands-on courses, each a week long, that ultimately result in the actual construction of a small single span bridge.

How is constructing a bridge is related to bridge preservation, which is essentially about maintenance and repair?

There are multiple connections. Many aspects of new construction can also apply to bridge preservation, starting with the knowledge of basic materials, the ability to read a plan, to build formwork, and to work with reinforcing steel. All this knowledge may also be needed to perform repairs.

In addition, during the bridge construction we purposely build in delaminated areas using Styrofoam in the abutment slab and bridge deck so as participants can learn detecting delamination through hammer sounding and chain dragging.  Participants then remove the delaminated areas and perform patching with various materials, including a full depth deck patch.  We also place a strip seal extrusion in the bridge deck so as participants can install and patch a gland.  Furthermore, once the bridge is fully built, we can discuss bridge jacking considerations and provide a hands-on exercise for the participants to practice bridge jacking, which can be a complex and highly significant technique.

During Bridge Maintenance Academy II participants receive an introduction to the fundamentals of structural steel, timber bridge maintenance and formwork.  Participants are also given the opportunity to observe the work performed by experts and execute hands-on bridge maintenance tasks, such as concrete formwork, rebar placement, concrete placement, finishing and curing, chain dragging, concrete removal, patching and structural steel repair.

During Bridge Maintenance Academy III participants construct a small single span bridge in order to facilitate bridge jacking training. As part of this exercise, participants are able to observe experts and perform hands-on bridge maintenance tasks, such as setting elastomeric bearings, setting steel beams, fastening steel diaphragms, constructing bridge deck formwork, placing rebar, placing, finishing and curing bridge deck concrete, installing a strip seal joint and performing full depth deck patching. Following the construction of the bridge, participants receive an introduction to bridge jacking, bearing and joint maintenance fundamentals as well as perform a bridge jacking exercise.

Who participates in the Academy? Are the participants new employees of Minnesota DOT?

The Bridge Maintenance Academy is open to Minnesota DOT bridge crew employees with less than five years of experience and also to other Agencies, such as Cities and Counties in Minnesota and other state Agencies.

How much does it cost to take Minnesota DOT Bridge Maintenance Academy courses?

Currently, we charge a small registration fee of $100 for local Agencies within Minnesota since  the program is supported by our State Aid Office. We charge a $1000 registration fee for out-of-state participants.

Could the Academy develop into a self-supported program?

There might be an opportunity to extend the program and become self-supported. We have had interest from other states in our Academy training program.  It takes significant effort from our Bridge Maintenance Supervisors and lead workers as well as a high level of management support to effectively deliver this type of training.  We are fortunate to have dedicated staff and support for bridge programs at the Minnesota DOT.

Are you planning to develop Bridge Maintenance Academy IV?

It has not been determined yet. Right now, our focus is on converting Bridge Maintenance Academy I into eLearning modules and delivering Bridge Maintenance Academy II and III.

In addition to the Academy, we have also developed on-line resources for some bridge maintenance activities, such as bridge flushing, that are harder to facilitate in a classroom session. The goal of the eLearning modules is to introduce these activities to a crew member who has not had the opportunity to perform them yet or recently.  The eLearning focuses on the benefits of performing these types of activities, their safety and environmental issues, and best practices and procedures for performing the activities on the job site.

We currently have four eLearning courses for bridge preventive maintenance: These are bridge flushing, crack sealing, gland repair, and poured joint sealing, which are available on the MnDOT Bridge Training Website.

What is your current role with the Bridge Academy program? Are you the leader?

It is a group effort. We have many supervisors and lead workers along with a technical college involved in delivering the training. For Bridge Maintenance Academy II and III, we divide the participants into six groups and provide an assistant instructor for each group.

My role is to continue developing and improving the curriculum in collaboration with the instruction team and coordinating training preparation and delivery.

BMA Participants Practicing Bridge Jacking

Is managing the Bridge Maintenance Academy the major responsibility of your team? It looks like a big commitment to me.

During the winter months, we focus on the bridge maintenance training program, planning the semiannual meetings with the Districts’ bridge staff and providing resources and tools to assist the Districts with work planning and data driven staffing decisions. In the summer months we support the crews on a variety of activities, including maintenance data tracking, product field testing and evaluation, equipment training, performance measures, best practices and research. Districts’ crews install many different types of products, so it is important to evaluate these products for performance.  We have set up sites to test various crack sealers, approach relief joints and spot painting products.

Over the last few years, I have returned to full-time and was also able to expand my knowledge in the areas of bridge inspection and bridge construction support through mobility opportunities within the DOT.  In 2017 I worked with our Metro District to advance their bridge inspection program.  For a portion of 2018 I worked with our southern Districts as the South Region Bridge Construction Engineer assisting with scoping, foundation recommendations, plan review and questions during construction.  In 2019 I returned to my role as the Bridge Operations Support Engineer and hope to support the Districts more effectively with the knowledge and experience I have gained.

Could you speak of your involvement with TSP2 Bridge Preservation? Has TSP2 been of help in reaching your goals with Minnesota DOT?

I have been involved with TSP2 for a few years. A couple of years ago, I was elected to a Director role and I am now the Vice Chair on the Board of the Mid-West Bridge Preservation Partnership.  I also serve as Secretary for the National Bridge Deck Preservation Working Group.  My involvement in the Partnership has been of great benefit to me. The partnership conference calls, regional meetings and working groups provide opportunities to learn about effective and innovative bridge preservation practices performed by other Agencies.  We have found a lot of value in the presentations and product demonstrations. These practices and innovations can be brought back to our Agency and help us to identify improvements for Minnesota’s bridge preservation program.

Partnership is really a great word to describe TSP2 because it has truly created a partnership between state Agencies, local Agencies and Industry, where knowledge can be shared and best practices can be discussed with the goal to improve bridge preservation.

Could you share something about your personal life?

I have been married for 17 years. We have two children, a son who just turned 13 in January and a daughter who is 11. Both kids are very involved in club soccer teams.  Our daughter also practices dance and is on a Destination Imagination team. We love to travel, watch the kids’ activities and spend time outside camping, hiking, skiing and enjoying time at the lake.

LINKS

Minnesota DOT Bridge Maintenance Training
https://www.dot.state.mn.us/bridge/training.html

Minnesota DOT Bridge Maintenance Manual
https://www.dot.state.mn.us/bridge/maintenance-manual.html

Research
Concrete Bridge Deck Crack Sealant Evaluation and Implementation
https://researchprojects.dot.state.mn.us/projectpages/pages/projectDetails.jsf?id=3007&type=CONTRACT&jftfdi=&jffi=projectDetails%3Fid%3D3007%26type%3DCONTRACT

Transportation Agency Practices Currently Employed for Bridge Maintenance Painting Operations: Findings from a National Survey
https://researchprojects.dot.state.mn.us/projectpages/pages/projectDetails.jsf?id=35932&type=DOCUMENT&jftfdi=&jffi=projectDetails%3Fid%3D35932%26type%3DDOCUMENT

Bridge Maintenance Painting Guidance, Training and Test Site
https://researchprojects.dot.state.mn.us/projectpages/pages/projectDetails.jsf?id=13241&type=CONTRACT&jftfdi=&jffi=projectDetails%3Fid%3D13241%26type%3DCONTRACT