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| The Middle East District sponsored an Airfield Pavement Workshop in Qatar Oct. 6-8 as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Airfield Pavement Quality Initiative. USACE photo. |
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WINCHESTER, Va. -- The Middle East District is doing its part to make sure people at every level of an airfield pavement project are informed about the process and proficient in the craft.
The District sponsored an Airfield Pavement Workshop in Qatar Oct. 6-8 as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Airfield Pavement Quality Initiative.
Barry Morley and Jeffery Vandevander, both from MED’s Quality Assurance Branch, Construction-Operations Division, are members of a USACE technical committee dedicated to identifying problems associated with airfield pavement quality and providing specific recommendations for methods to improve the technical capabilities of the Corps in the area. The recommendations also apply to other technical areas where USACE is performing engineering and construction work.
“Part of the initiative is to provide expertise to the field: the ones on the ground doing the construction work,” said Vandevander. “Conducting workshops in forward locations, where the bulk of our work is being performed, is one way MED is building airfield pavement competence and complying with the USACE initiative.”
The 55 attendees included representatives from MED’s field office at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the field office in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan Engineer District, and Al Udeid Air Base contractors and suppliers. Additionally, customer representatives attended from the Office of Program Management Saudi Arabian National Guard and the U.S. Air Force Construction Management Office.
According to Vandevander, the primary goal of the workshop was to increase overall awareness of USACE airfield pavement requirements and build expertise in both quality assurance and quality control in the field.
“The workshop was a huge success,” said Vandevander. “It covered a wide range of issues, including some of the problems frequently encountered in our unique area of operations. It also covered the solutions to those problems.
“Everyone in attendance – contractors and USACE personnel – left with a better understanding of engineering and management strategies and improved technical capabilities in the area of airfield pavements,” he said.
The event was coordinated by Vandevander and Gharib Ibrahim, Qatar Area Engineer. The instructors were Terry Sherman and John Hawkins from the USACE Airfield Pavement Center of Expertise in Omaha, Neb., and Dr. Ray Brown from the Engineering and Research Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss.
Vandevander said he is currently coordinating with Afghanistan Engineer District - South to hold similar workshops in Afghanistan early in February, and another workshop is scheduled in Egypt for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010 in preparation for upcoming projects.