SAMI and COLAS were invited by Russell Lowe, Senior Technologist from Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (QTMR) to host a 2-day “bitumen bootcamp” training course for 50 staff members from Roadtek as well as, Metro, Toowoomba, South, and North Coast regions. The event was held at the maintenance training centre at QTMR’s Nathan Depot on July 29-30th.

The purpose of the event was to provide these staff members, who have different backgrounds and roles, with more information and understanding of the materials, namely bitumen, aggregates, and asphalt, that they use regularly to maintain their road network. A combination of classroom presentations and site visits were undertaken to Hanson’s Wolfdene quarry, COLAS’s Yatala asphalt plant, and SAMI’s Port of Brisbane bitumen terminal. This provided them with firsthand experience, which they would normally not be exposed to, into the manufacturing processes and quality control measures that are undertaken to ensure that they receive quality high-performance materials.

A special thanks to all those who were involved in the successful hosting of the event, and especially to Jonathan Hoffman at COLAS who organised for Russell Lowe to visit a COLAS asphalt plant on this recent holiday to British Columbia in Canada!