Asphalt Paving Level 1 Course Descriptions
The FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Qualification is part of the set of courses designed to qualify and train personnel who are responsible for preparing, applying, and supervising concrete asphalt material (or asphaltic concrete) within Florida Department of Transportation projects. Specifically, Level 1 of the Asphalt Paving Course (which is what we are analyzing today) deals with a basic introduction to asphalt, the typology of asphalt, and its different uses, with a special focus on the construction of asphalt pavements.
An important question is: Which professionals and technicians, based on their job functions, need the FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification? As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, this course is aimed at technicians, private laboratories, or contractors who need to be qualified to perform acceptance tests, such as surface tolerance (rolling rule and cross slope), random sampling, core sampling and testing, and calculation of density. Add to this that Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification is required for entry-level FDOT employees taking tests like the ones just mentioned.
As its full name indicates (Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification Course & Exam), the program to obtain this certification includes both the course and the exams (one written and one practical, as we will see later). Taking the course is recommended, but it is not mandatory to have taken it in order to take the exams and obtain the qualification. Something else that is recommended but not required is to take a self-study course and lectures in applied construction mathematics.
Asphalt Paving Level 1 Course at a glance (summary table)
Before going into more details about the Asphalt Paving Level 1 Course, you will probably find it very helpful to grasp the entire main structure of the course at a glance. That is why we have reproduced here the part dedicated to the Asphalt Paving Level 1 Course within an official FDOT table dedicated to giving a synopsis of all asphalt courses.
ASPHALT PAVING LEVEL 1 COURSE AT A GLANCE | |
PARAMETER | DESCRIPTION |
objective | To assure that test results used for quality control, verification, dispute resolution, and acceptance of asphalt pavements are performed in accordance with the standard test methods. |
Course Content | – Practice for Random Sampling of Construction Materials (ASTM D3665). – Rolling Straight Edge.- Core Sampling and Temperature Measurement.- Density of Soils and Bituminous Concrete Mixtures in Place by the Nuclear Method (FM 1-T-238) |
Duration of Class | One day, including the course and examination. |
Examinations | For exam details, review the Qualifications Table Quick Reference: Written: Required. 2-hour closed book exam comprised of 32 questions Proficiency: Required. The trainee will take a proficiency examination and is expected to correctly demonstrate skills in the measurement of surface tolerance, cross slope, and nuclear density. The trainee has two chances to pass each test. Two failures in one area will constitute a failure of the proficiency examination. |
Prerequisites | None. recommends taking the Plan Reading and Construction Math self-study courses. |
Student Responsibility | Current Florida driver’s license. Be on time. |
What we will provide | Florida-specific training materials. exam. |
Course Objectives
The objective of the Asphalt Paving Level 1 course (and the degree of official qualification that it provides to the professional or technician) is to qualify technicians and professionals, whether they belong directly to the Florida Department of Transportation or who are going to have joint projects with said entity. This ensures that all test results used for quality control, verification, dispute resolution, and acceptance of asphalt mixtures are performed in accordance with standard test methods and reflect the characteristics of actual asphalt today.
The Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification is one of those that require both a written exam and a practical competency exam. That is why all applicants for the FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification must:
- Pass the Asphalt Paving Level 1 written examination.
- Pass the Asphalt Paving Level 1 proficiency examination.
After the applicant has successfully met these two qualification requirements, the date of their qualification will be added to the FDOT Qualification and Training Database System, and will officially appear as a qualified person in that course. The qualification will be valid for five years (60 months). The exact count is made from the date the person passed the last requirement of the qualifying exam.
Course Content
As a level 1 course, Asphalt Paving L-1 focuses on testing and provides the applicant with an important entry point into the asphalt industry. Course content is taught as directed by the Construction Training & Qualification Program Administration of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The content of the Asphalt Paving Level 1 course is divided into 5 modules:
Modules
- Introduction
- Mix Temperatures and Cross Slope
- Tack Coat and Mix Spread Rate
- Rolling Straightedge and Manual Straightedge
- Random Sampling, Core Layout, and Coring
To the 5 modules that we have just listed, 5 appendices are added that complete the content of the Asphalt Paving Level 1 course:
Appendices
- A-1 Additional Practice Problems for Tack Coat, Mix Spread Rate, and Cross-Slope
- A-2 FDOT Specifications
- A-3 Asphalt Forms and Reports
- A-4 CTQM Chapter 3
- A-5 Calibration and Temperature Charts
Duration of Class
The Asphalt Paving Level 1 course is very short, and even though (as we said above) it is not mandatory to take it to be eligible to take the exams and obtain the Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification. The course consists of a single training class. On the same day of the course, at the end, there is a written exam and a competency exam. The total instruction time, including course and exams, is approximately 9 hours. If we break down instruction time and exams, it would be as follows:
Instruction (5.5 hours):
- Classroom: 5.0 hours
- Competition: 0.5 hours
Exams (3.5 hours):
- Written exam: 2 hours
- Competency exam: approximately 1.5 hours (depends on the number of applicants)
Exam Requirements
The applicant does not need to meet any prerequisites to take this Level 1 of the FDOT Asphalt Paving Certification. However, to be examined and qualified, it is necessary to meet the two requirements that we saw in a summary in the table above, and that we see here in more detail:
1) Written Examination
When the instructor has finished teaching the content of the course, a written exam that lasts 2 hours is given. The written exam is open book, and its system is multiple choice. Exams are scored electronically by the CTQP administrator. The minimum score to pass the exam is to have chosen no less than 70% of the answers correctly. After finishing the exam, it is necessary to wait a maximum of 2 weeks for the scores to be ready and the results of the exam to be published.
2) Proficiency Examination
After the course and when the applicant has finished taking the written exam, a practical competence exam is also carried out, which lasts approximately 1.5 hours. The goal of this proficiency exam is for each applicant to successfully demonstrate their skills in surface tolerance and cross slope measurement. Each student has two opportunities to pass each part of this proficiency exam. A student’s failure to successfully complete a test twice will constitute failure of the competency exam. The proficiency exam is closed book. However, the student can refer to the course material after a failed attempt and before the second attempt.
Our instructors
Our Encobridge instructors for the FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification are highly qualified, with extensive theoretical and practical experience, both in the civil engineering, transportation infrastructure, and road projects sectors as well as in teaching and the instruction of the Construction Training Qualification Program ( CTQP) Certification of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
People who have taken the CTQP Certification courses that we teach at Encobridge have very good opinions about the instructors, the content, the pace of classes and exams, the competitiveness of prices, and the importance of taking these courses by any person or company that wants to do business with the Florida Department of Transportation or participate in its projects. By following this link , you will be able to take a look at some opinions given by Encobridge course participants regarding the courses and the instructors.
The FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification that Encobridge offers you
In order for everything we are saying to be well understood, it should be clarified that the Asphalt Paving Level 1 course taught by Encobridge is part of a group of courses related to asphalt:
- Asphalt Paving Level 1
- Asphalt Paving Level 2
- Asphalt Plant Level 1
- Asphalt Plant Level 2
- Asphalt Mix Designer
All of these courses are available to you through Encobridge. You can follow the links and access them. We offer you a wide range of courses to achieve the CTQP Certification. Encobridge Inc. is an authorized provider of the Florida Department of Transportation Construction Training Qualification Program (FDOT-CTQP) certification. Choose Encobridge for your CTQP Certification, as we have been approved by Miami Dade County in numerous technical categories , and are included in the list of Approved CTQP Providers & Instructors on the official FDOT website. We have 10 years of experience in the sector. Countless professionals and technicians have been trained and qualified with Encobridge courses for the FDOT CTQP Certification.
One of the main objectives of Encobridge is to offer a wide variety of solutions to close the so-called “skills gap”. That is to say: we function as a training provider that allows employees to reach better positions. Those who earn the CTQP certification are officially registered in the FDOT database, which opens up many job opportunities. At Encobridge we work to train and graduate technical staff and professionals, and thus help meet the growing demand for qualified personnel in the construction and infrastructure industry. That is why the FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification is part of our training plan within the CTQP Certification.
You can count on our assistance for any doubts or questions about our courses. We receive inquiries from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. On the Contact page of the website, you have all our contact details and other information, including our location on the map, our postal address, our working hours, email address, telephone number, and a contact form.
Course cancellation information
You can complete the initial procedure online to register to participate in one of our courses to obtain any CTQP Certification, including the FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification. On our website, registration is done in a similar way to any digital purchase. Once you choose the city, and that on the calendar and the map, you select the date and time and confirm the place; by clicking or tapping on the registration button, you add the course to the cart, and you can proceed to checkout.
As long as there is still capacity, you can register more than 1 participant (by inserting their name and email address), and each of them will be added to the cart as a product and added to the total cost of the purchase. We receive credit card payments through Stripe, a 100% secure and internationally renowned digital banking platform. Encobridge does not process or store your credit card data: the entire transaction occurs encrypted through Stripe, with all the high levels of security of the financial institution.
If you need to cancel your participation in the Encobridge course for which you have registered, use our data and contact us. It can be by phone or through our contact form. It is advisable that cancellations are made as early as possible before the day of the course. This opens the opportunity for other people to take advantage of that training.
FAQ about FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification
As we know that there are many more details to understand about the FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification and more questions to answer, here is this section of frequently asked questions on the subject.
We have already answered this question in some way in the section entitled “Exam Requirements.” But since this is a FAQ, let’s answer it here in a shorter way. The FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification requires two types of exams: a written exam and a competency exam. But everything, both the course and the two exams, is usually done on the same day. The written exam is graded digitally, and you have to wait up to 2 weeks (15 days) to receive the results. Regarding the competition exam, the qualification is known at that very moment, and there is even a second attempt if the first one is failed.
You can find the FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 training guide with the content of this course (and the other CTQP Certification courses), on the FDOT official website server. In said documentation, the content of the courses is oriented point by point, including that of Asphalt Paving (Level 1). You can access the manual download directory by following this link to the official FDOT website server. To enter the download directory, two types of authentication can be used:
Those who are already clients, must access using the username and password of their FTP account.
Visitors who are not customers can access using the username “Guest”, and leaving the password box blank.
After entering the download directory of the FDOT server, all you have to do is click or tap on the desired document, and the download will automatically start, or your browser will ask you for the location where you want to save the document (this depends on your device or your browser settings). The vast majority of the entries in the directory (for example, the one that corresponds to the Asphalt Paving – Level 1 course) are actually packages that contain several compacted documents, which you will have to download and unpack on your device or computer before you can read them. That is why, in most cases, you will not be able to read the documents in the browser itself before downloading them.
Any applicant who does not pass the written exam or both attempts at the proficiency exam may request another exam. Before retesting, the application must be completed and the appropriate fee must be paid.
In the context of this course, certain conditions that the applicant must meet are called “responsibilities,” even though the Asphalt Paving (Level 1) course does not specifically ask for extra requirements. In this case, the responsibilities are:
Be punctual on the day of the course.
Have a valid driver’s license from the State of Florida.
Due to constant changes in technical specifications, materials, and manufacturing, placement, and supervision processes, the FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification is valid for five years (60 months), after which you must requalify and obtain a certification. new certification. Near the end of that five-year period, qualified Asphalt Paving Level 1 technicians must submit a new requalification application. There is a separate fee for requalification and reexamination.
Requalification for all asphalt grades requires taking and passing the current exam, both written and proficiency (or only the written exam in courses that do not include a proficiency exam). Any applicant who fails to requalify during the 60th month of their previous qualification will lose qualification after the last day of the 60th month. If the qualification expires, the applicant must reapply for qualification.
Some important details about the FDOT Asphalt Paving Level 1 Certification requalification are:
- Asphalt Paving Certification Level 1 (even if expired) is automatically requalified if the applicant successfully requalifies from Asphalt Paving Certification Level 2.
- If the Asphalt Paving Certification Level 2 is expired, the technician will be considered a first time applicant, and must obtain the Asphalt Paving Certification Level 1 qualification.
The ways to obtain the CTPQ Qualification for Asphalt Paving (Level 1) are divided into two categories, depending on whether it is the first time the qualification is to be obtained or if it is a renewal. This can be seen in the following diagram.
If you follow the link that we provide below, you can verify a CTQP certificate (of any of the specialties, including asphalt) at any time using the search engine of the official website of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT):
Once you access the search page of the official FDOT website, you have a drop-down menu that allows you to choose whether to search based on a name or based on a TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number). After choosing between these two variants, you will only have to enter in the form the name and surname of the owner of the CTQP Certificate that you need to verify, or the first 9 digits/letters of your driver’s license.
As clarified in Chapter 1 of the FDOT Construction Training & Qualification Manual CTQM, the revocation (or suspension) of a qualification is an action that the State Construction Office can take with the objective of revoking or suspending the qualification of a technician. If the qualification revocation or suspension occurs , the affected person will not be able to perform those testing, acceptance, and quality control activities in which FDOT requires CTQP qualified persons. A qualification can be revoked for two reasons:
- Due to lack of competence: If the technician performs samples, tests or reports in an erroneous manner.
- For Falsifying Records: If the technician falsifies Florida Department of Transportation records, their qualification will be subject to revocation for up to two years or more by the SCTA.