Vol. 19 No. 3 December 2002

University of Connecticut School of Engineering

Connecticut Transportation Institute Technology Transfer Center

On September 12, Connecticut Transportation Institute staff joined friends, family and colleagues in honoring 2002’s 53 graduates of the Connecticut Road Master and Municipal Legal Traffic Authority programs at a ceremony in Storrs. Technology Transfer Center Director, Donna Shea, and Connecticut Transportation Institute Director, Dr. Christian Davis made presentations along with this year’s guest speakers Bradley Keazer, FHWA Division Administrator; Wayne McAllister, ConnDOT District Maintenance Manager; and William Brown, Town of Greenwich Traf f ic Operat ions Supervisor. Connecticut Road Master Program The following thirty-eight individuals, comprising the seventh graduating class of the Connecticut Road Master Program, completed the program's seven required workshops and two elective workshops: Burton Blessing CT Department of Transportation Brian Brouillard CT Department of Transportation David Buccitti Town of Ridgefield Gary Caton CT Department of Transportation Michael Choquette CT Department of Transportation

Theodore Citak CT of Transportation Leon Clough Town of South Windsor Peter Conroy CT Department of Transportation Neil Creem CT Department of Transportation Peter DeLap CT Department of Transportation Ralph DeSanti CT Department of Transportation Alan Dutka CT Department of Transportation Daniel Esposito CT Department of Transportation Evo Falcinelli Town of Ridgefield Chris Fortin Town of South Windsor Thomas Goclowski City of Milford Kenneth Griffin CT Department of Transportation Patrick Hackett Town of New Milford Robert Heinig CT Department of Transportation

Kevin Kelly Town of Colchester Soweth Kong CT Department of Transportation Frank Larubina Town of Groton Joseph Martel Town of Putnam John Micali CT Department of Transportation Ernest Orgera City of Stamford Mark Owens Town of South Windsor Daniel Pompei CT Department of Transportation Glenn Postemski Town of Pomfret Edwin Read Town of Redding Richard Reagan CT Department of Transportation Clarence Rees Town of Bethel Sherri Ruiz-Clark CT Department of Transportation Ray Segreto CT Department of Transportation

Congratulations to Our 2002 Graduates!

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration

James Sugden Town of Redding Robert Thatcher Town of Cheshire Edward Turlis CT Department of Transportation Jamie Willis CT Department of Transportation John Zdancewicz CT Department of Transportation The Connecticut Road Master Program provides highway personnel with a knowledge of the fundamentals of modern road maintenance management procedures and techniques. Connecticut Municipal Legal Traffic Authority Program The following fifteen individuals, comprising the sixth graduating class of the Connecticut Municipal Legal Traffic Authority Program, completed the program’s four required workshops: Tom Brennan Easton Police Department William Brown Town of Greenwich Thomas Bruccoleri City of Stamford Lee Erdmann Town of Wethersfield

E. Thomas Field South Windsor Police Department Morteza Hayatgheybi City of Bridgeport Michael Hudzik Town of Stratford John Salvatore Monroe Police Department Charles Korn, Jr. Guilford Police Department Stanley Lofquist North Haven Police Department

Patrick McLaughlin Town of Killingly James Mull Wethersfield Police Department Douglas Nadeau Bristol Police Department Kevin Prentice Milford Police Department Robert Shopey Torrington Police Department The Connecticut Municipal Legal Traffic Authority Program is a series of

2 Technology Transfer December 2002

(l to r) Bradley Keazer, Donna Shea, Wayne McAllister, William Brown, Mary McCarthy

2002 Connecticut Road Master Program Graduates

Published by the: Connecticut Transportation Institute Technology Transfer Center Phone: 860-486-5400 Fax: 860-486-2399 Web: www.cti.uconn.edu Supported through a cooperative effort of the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration’s Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) to pro-vide information on the latest transportation technology to Connecticut’s state and local government officials. Director Donna Shea (shea@engr.uconn.edu) Web Master Deborah Barrett (dbarrett@engr.uconn.edu) Workshop Coordinator Mary McCarthy (mary.c.mccarthy@uconn.edu) Information Services Coordinator/Editor Stephanie Merrall (smerrall@engr.uconn.edu)

workshops designed to provide municipal legal traffic authorities with a fundamental knowledge of their powers and responsibilities and a background for dealing with related traffic operations problems. For more information on the Connecticut Road Master Program, the Connecticut Municipal Legal Traffic Authority Program, or any of the other training programs and services available from the Connecticut Transportation Institute's Technology Transfer Center, please call 860-486-5400.

December 2002 Technology Transfer 3

Green Parking Lots at UConn’s New Football Stadium

Norman W. Garrick, Associate Professor and Kwesi A. Brown, Graduate Student University of Connecticut

The “green” parking lots at UConn’s Rentschler Field are just the latest and most visible example in Connecticut of developers and municipalities adopting a more environmentally sound approach for paving low trafficked surfaces. The design used at Rentschler Field was chosen as a cost effective solution for reducing the impacts from a large parking area on the environmentally sensitive wetlands located adjacent to the stadium. This particular combination of turf parking stalls with processed aggregate driveways will produce much less precipitation run-off than would be the case for a conventional asphalt pavement. Less run-off means less pollution discharging to the wetlands and less potential for erosion in the natural drainage system. An important secondary benefit for football fans is that a grass parking lot provides a much more pleasant ambience for the tailgating picnics that traditionally accompany UConn football games. The turf parking at the Rentschler Field is noteworthy, not just because of its prominent location and size, but also for its innovative design. Fuss & O’Neill, the design consultants on the project, chose to use a fiber reinforced turf system called Turfgrid. In this system, propylene fibers are embedded into topsoil and laid down to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. The soil is then seeded with grass. Once the grass grows, the root system interlocks with the fibers to provide the strength and integrity needed to support traffic. The Turfgrid system was attractive for this job because of its low cost. The drawback

is that it takes a full growing season to achieve full strength. Of course, this was not a problem at this site since stadium parking will not be needed until the fall of 2003, when UConn inaugurates play at their new home for football. For projects with a shorter construction timeline, the need for a seasoning period would pose a problem. However, there are many other options available for green parking. For example, the overflow parking lot at the Westfarms Mall is also a green pavement but one that is based on a very different technology from that at Rentschler Field. The pavement at the Westfarms Mall uses plastic lattices with grass infill. Other

common techniques include open graded paving blocks, open-celled paving grids, porous concrete, porous turf and porous asphalt. These systems all have different costs, strength and permeability characteristics to suit a wide range of paving needs. Here at UConn in the Civil Engineering Department, we are currently working on developing a guide to help municipalities sort through this array of choices to develop green paving solutions that they can tailor to their needs. This work is sponsored by the Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) program at the University of Connecticut.

Green Parking at Rentschler Field

2002 Connecticut Legal Traffic Authority Graduates

Seven hundred people f rom throughout the state and local region visited the University of Connecticut’s Depot Campus on September 18 to experience the latest innovations in public works equipment, materials and technologies at the 2002 Technology Transfer Expo. This year’s annual event, hosted by the University of Connecticut’s Technology Transfer Center and the C o n n e c t i c u t S t r e e t H i g h wa y Supervisor Association (CHSSA), drew a record crowd and featured more exhibitors than ever before. Seventy-three public service agencies, professional organizations and vendors presented instruct ive i n f o r m a t i o n a n d i n t e r a c t i v e demonstrations of their products and services. Municipal public works employees had the opportunity to test their knowledge and skills at the first annual Expo Chal lenge. Twenty-eight contestants competed for the best overall score in Backhoe Operation, OSHA Confined Spaces, Road Kill Toss, and Work Zone Safety at the stations located throughout the site. Our congratulations to the top three winners:

1st Place Cliff LaBrec, Town of Coventry

2nd Place

Barry Walker, Town of Glastonbury

3rd Place Joe Puccio, City of Bridgeport

Our sincere thanks to the many vendors who generously donated items for the door prize drawings conducted throughout the day: Bacher Corp of Connecticut $50 Check Carey Wiping Materials Corp. Car Wash Kit C.N. Wood of Connecticut, LLC Model Elgin Pelican Devine Hydraulics, Inc. 2 Tee Shirts 2 Thirst Aid Kits DPP Associates Tee Shirt EMAS Attachments Gortex High-Visibility Jacket

Franklin Paint Paint Co., Inc. Layout Line with Reel Gorman Bros., Inc. Dual Collar Zip Jacket J.D. Paving & Sealing Sweatshirt Nutmeg International Trucks 6 Hats NY Bituminous Products Polo Shirt Rock Rubber & Supply, Inc. Hose with Spray Attachment Tyler Equipment High-Visibility Fleece Jacket VHB Polo Shirt and Golf Balls To view on-line photo galleries of all the day’s action, visit the Connecticut Transportation Institute web site at w w w . c t i . u c o n n . e d u a n d t h e C o n n e c t i c u t H i g h wa y S t r e e t Supervisor Association site at www.chssa.org.

4 Technology Transfer December 2002

Backhoe Challenge CHSSA Members Present Awards to Expo Challenge Winners

Technology Transfer Expo 2002: You Came, You Saw, You Learned

We hope you’ll join us again next fall for another terrific event!

Expo Exhibitors 3M Traffic Control Materials Division A.W. Direct Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. American Fiber Technologies, Inc. Asphalt Zipper Atlantic Broom Service, Inc. Atlantic Detroit Diesel – Allison Bacher Corp of Connecticut BART Truck Equipment Co., Inc. Bear Com Beta Group Bobcat of Connecticut, Inc. C.N. Wood of Connecticut, LLC Carey Wiping Materials Corp. Connecticut Construction Industries Association (CCIA) Connecticut Highway Street Supervisor Association (CHSSA) Concrete Systems, Inc. Connecticut Department of Transportation Connecticut Technology Transfer Center Connecticut Transportation Institute CUES, Inc. Dave Grigsby Heating & AC, LLC Dees Fluid Power Devine Hydraulics, Inc. DPP Associates East Coast Sign & Supply, Inc. East PBE, Inc. Eljen Corporation EMAS Attachments EPPCO Federal Highway Administration Flint Trading Franklin Paint Co., Inc. Freightliner of Hartford, Inc. Gabrielli Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming Genalco, Inc. Glimmer Distributing Gorman Bros., Inc. H.O. Penn Hine Bros. International Hudson Liquid Asphalts, Inc. Industrial Safety & Supply J.D. Paving & Sealing Jamieson Distributors, Inc. Kahn Tractor & Equipment, Inc. MARCUS Nicard Enterprises, LLC Nutmeg International Trucks NY Bituminous Products Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) P.C. Scale

R.W. Thompson Co., Inc. Reed Systems, Ltd. Ro-Brand Products Rock Rubber & Supply, Inc. S & D Supply, LLC Scranton Motors, Inc. SEACO Signal 54 Training Superior Equipment and Supplies T.T. Technologies, Inc. Tennant Company

The Jack Farrelly Co., Inc. The W.I. Clark Company Traffic Safety and Signs, Inc. Tri-County Contractors’ Supply, Inc. Tyler Equipment United Rentals Vasso Systems, Inc. Vermeer Northeast W.H. Rose, Inc. Welding Equipment & Supply Corp.

December 2002 Technology Transfer 5

Aerial View of Vendors

Equipment Display

By the Way…

Donna Shea, Director Technology Transfer Center

On October 8 and 9, 2002, the staff of the CT Technology Transfer Center participated in the first Connecticut Construction Career Days. The two days of events were held at the Mountainside Recreational facility in Wallingford. What a rewarding experience! Over 1,100 juniors and seniors joined us from high schools all over Connecticut. Sixty-seven exhibitors set up both hands-on and static displays to provide these local high school students with an awareness of the construction, design and engineering career opportunities that exist for them in the future. With the guidance of construction professionals and outfitted with their own hard hats, safety gloves and safety glasses, the students participated in hands-on activities including backhoe operation, mini-excavator operation, bricklaying, toolbox building, welding, pipefitting and materials testing. Technology-based careers associated with construction, such as engineering, architecture and surveying were also represented. Students also heard about post-secondary training and schools of engineering and architecture. Dr. Lisa Aultman-Hall, Associate Professor from the University of Connecticut was on

hand to discuss programs available in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at the University of Connecticut. Central Connecticut State University was also in attendance to provide information about their Construction Management program. The Connecticut Highway Street Supervisors Association (CHSSA) provided volunteers to help with the event and they set up hands-on displays

to give the students an opportunity to discuss career opportunities in the area of Public Works. The planning committee received very positive feedback from the students and chaperones; here is some of the feedback we received: “First class, a wonderful experience for our students...The opportunity to talk and interact with people from the field was a real treat. The concept of having hands-on participation was the hit of the day” - Suffield High School “To say that our students both learned from it and enjoyed it is to put it mildly. This is exactly what Technology Education in the public schools need” - Seymour High School “We have over the years taken many students on some pretty great field trips, but this was by far the best. We have 50 pictures of students in blue hard hats on

6 Technology Transfer December 2002

Operating Small Equipment at the Lane Construction Display

Tying Rebar

a picture wall of the School-to-Career office, the kids have not stopped talking about it” - Thomaston Public Schools “We had a great time—it was organized, thought out, informational and inspirational” - Orville H. Platt High School “Thank you for putting together such a great career day. There were such a wide variety of ‘hands-on’ activities for everyone to try. The students saw so many different possibilit ies in construction that they never knew existed – sign us up for next year! - Pomperaug High School The Construction Industry is facing a severe shortage of skilled workers. If not addressed, the shortage will increase, affecting quality, safety, and our industry’s overall ability to compete in building the infrastructure needed by an ever-growing population. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that by the year 2008, the commercial construction industry will need 60,000 additional workers. Connecticut is no exception to the national work shortage of skilled construction workers. The objective of Construction Career Days is simply to create and increase the awareness among youth, of the construction industry as a viable sector in which to pursue a rewarding career. The Connecticut Technology Transfer Center looks forward to participating, with our partners in industry, government and education, in the planning of the 2003 Connecticut Construction Career Days that are tentatively scheduled for October 7 and 8, 2003.

December 2002 Technology Transfer 7

Finishing Concrete

Mary McCarthy, Donna Shea, Stephanie Merrall

Special thanks to all of the sponsors of the Connecticut

Construction Career Days event, including:

Connecticut Department of Transportation,

Connecticut Construction Industries Association,

Federal Highway Administration,

Connecticut Technology Transfer Center,

Connecticut Department of Education,

and various skilled trade unions.

Season’s Greetings from all of us at the Technology Transfer Center.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy 2003!

Donna Mary Stephanie Lori Naomi Deb

Conference Calendar

Infrastructure Asset Management A Professional Development Workshop

• January 28-29 in Hartford

Superpave for Municipalities A Connecticut Road Master Program Elective Workshop

• March 25 in Torrington

Context Sensitive Solutions Training • March 27 in Storrs • June 26 in Storrs • October 9 in Hartford

Effective Communications

A Connecticut Road Master Program Required Workshop (Replaces Managing, Motivating and Communicating Your Way to Successful Supervision)

• April 15 in Hartford • April 16 in New Britain • April 17 in Storrs

Chainsaw Safety A Connecticut Road Master Program Elective Workshop

• April 28 in Storrs • April 29 in Storrs

For more information on training programs, call the Connecticut Transportation Institute at 860-486-1384. Please visit our on-line Workshop Schedule information for updates and take advantage of our on-line workshop registration form at www.cti.uconn.edu/ti/Technology/Workshopsched.htm

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