2025 Pavement Preservation Academy

As part of the Senate Bill 1 (SB-1) funding through the California State University (CSU) Transportation Consortium headed up by Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University, the r (CP2C) is pleased to announce a certificate program in pavement preservation, via the Pavement Preservation Academy. The purpose of the program is to help state and local agencies improve the design and construction of pavement preservation treatments.

The certificate program consists of four 3-hour modules including pavement repair and surface preparation, chip seals, slurry seals and micro surfacing, Cape seals, and thin hot mix overlays, and the student must pass an online exam to gain a certificate. Each of the four modules will cover the following topics:

• Overview of the treatment
• Project selection
• Materials and design
• Specifications
• Construction
• Safety
• Quality Assurance
• Trouble shooting
• Other resources available

The five online teaching modules will be conducted at the following times:

• 9:00 AM - 12:00PM, Tuesday, April 7, 2025
• 9:00 AM - 12:00PM, Wednesday, April 8, 2025
• 9:00 AM - 12:00PM, Tuesday, April 9, 2025
• 9:00 AM - 12:00PM, Wednesday, April 10, 2025

The instructors for the five modules are recognized names in the field, including:

• Roger Smith - Introduction, Pavement Repair and Preparation
• Erik Updyke - Chip seals
• Ding Cheng - Slurry Surfacing and Cape Seals
• Erik Updyke - Thin Asphalt Overlays

The registration fee is for the online class will be $250/person. Dr. Ding Cheng of the CP2 Center will provide technical support if needed.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Ding Cheng, the director of the CP2 Center.

Short Bios of Instructors

Roger Smith

Roger is a consultant specializing in asphalt pavement and materials. In addition to his pavement consulting services, he provides pavement training classes for the Institute of Transportation Studies (U.C. Berkeley) and the California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA) and is a part-time Pavement Specialist with the California Pavement Preservation (CP2) Center at Chico State University. Roger began his career with Caltrans, ending up as the Senior Engineer in charge of the asphalt materials section of Caltrans’ Transportation Laboratory (Translab) in Sacramento. After leaving Caltrans, he worked for 10 years as a field engineer for the Asphalt Institute and later served as Executive Director of the Northern California Asphalt Producers Association (NCAPA). He is a graduate of Michigan Technological University with a degree in Civil Engineering.

DingXin Cheng, Ph.D., P.E.

Dr. DingXin (Ding) Cheng is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the California State University, Chico, Director of the California Pavement Preservation (CP2) Center, and Director of the Tire Derived Aggregate Technology Center. He has worked actively with the CP2 Center since he joined the Department of Civil Engineering at CSU, Chico, in 2006. He obtained his Ph.D. in the areas of pavement materials and transportation from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas in 2002. He worked in private industry for Parsons Brinckerhoff in Houston, TX before joining Chico State. He has extensive experience in hot mix asphalt (HMA) materials and pavement preservation on both asphalt and concrete pavements. He has more than 55 peer-reviewed publications related to pavement materials and preservation presented at Transportation Research Board, AAPT, ASCE, and other conferences. Ding has co-managed or managed more than $10 million of research projects funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), Metropolitan Transportation Commissions (MTC) of San Francisco Bay Area, and other agencies and industry. He is a registered civil engineer in the State of Texas.

Erik Updyke, P.E.

Erlk Updyke, P.E. is a Senior Pavement Preservation Engineer who has worked for the California Pavement Preservation Center since April 2020. Erik is also a Specialist with the City and County Pavement Improvement Center at the University of California, Davis, and a consultant to local agencies on contract documents and pavement preservation. Erik retired from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works after 36 years in the Road Maintenance, Design, and Construction Divisions. From 2005 to 2019, Erik was the APWA Co-Chair of the Greenbook Committee of Public Works Standards, Inc. Erik has presented numerous seminars on the Greenbook throughout Southern California and also spoken on pavement preservation at several conferences. Erik has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maine and an MBA from Long Beach State University. He is a Registered Civil Engineer in California and a Professional Engineer in Maine.

Host or Publisher California Pavement Preservation Center