Staff Reporter
EVEN as Qatar undergoes a massive development in its road infrastructure, an international expert on asphalt pavements has stressed the need to ensure the highest possible quality in the projects.
“The best of global specifications, applicable in Qatar, should be adopted so as to cater to future demands,” Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) associate professor of civil engineering Eyad Masad told Gulf Times yesterday.
A specialist in the areas of modelling and performance prediction of asphalt pavements, he was talking in the background of two upcoming courses that TAMUQ is hosting in collaboration with the Public Works Authority (Ashghal).
The first course, Asphalt pavement materials and construction on May 5 and 6 is meant for contractor supervisory personnel, highway construction engineers, and field inspectors.
The second course, Asphalt pavement evaluation, maintenance and rehabilitation on May 7 and 8 is targeted at design, construction and maintenance engineers.
They would dwell on the latest trends in construction techniques, material properties, quality control and assurance, design methods, evaluation of pavement quality, preservation, rehabilitation, and work zone safety.
“Two leading civil engineering experts, Dallas Little and Imad al-Qadi, who have been consultants on major infrastructure projects in the US, Europe and the Middle East, are the other instructors,” explained Masad, who is also an associate research engineer at Texas Transportation Institute (TTI).
Little is the E B Snead Chair professor at TAMU, senior research fellow at TTI, and associate director at International Centre for Aggregate Research.
He has expertise in the mechanics of infrastructure materials, chemical and mechanical properties of asphalt, pavement analysis and design, and soil stabilisation.
Al-Qadi is the director of the Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Lab, and director of the Illinois Centre for Transportation.
He is well known in the areas of characterisation, design, analysis, assessment, modelling, and performance prediction of pavement systems.
Masad, on joint appointment at TAMUQ from its parent campus in the US, is of the view that Qatar has succeeded in road building so far.
“But the challenge is that the loads being seen on the roads today and expected in future are unlike anything in the past,” observed the co-author of Pavement Design and Materials, adopted as a text by many universities around the world.
Having held discussions with Ashghal’s quality, safety and environment division and road division, he said the biggest issue is in the defining and measuring of quality.
The selection of materials, using them in the right proportions, and design and construction in line with international specifications adapted to the local environmental conditions are the main thrust areas.
“I have learnt that Ashghal is committed to improving quality and has conveyed the new specifications to engineers, consultants and contractors involved in its projects,” Masad stated.
The participants of the courses, part of a series, would be enlightened on the best practices in the field from a global perspective.
“The technical professionals engaged in the road projects could take this information and improve their techniques, leading to better results,” he added.