Lab Technician/Plant Inspector (General Construction Inspector II)

Commonwealth of Massachusetts • Arlington, MA

3d

About The Position

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) District 4 Materials Section provides materials control and quality assurance services for the District 4 construction projects to ensure that all materials and construction activities incorporated into the construction are in conformance with standard specifications, engineering directives, project special provisions, quality system manual, quality control plan and construction plans. These services include providing project materials control guide, reviewing quality control plans and materials related submittals; sampling, testing, and inspection at the District lab and at HMA/Concrete plants; quality assurance and monitoring construction project materials control progress; maintaining the District Lab.

Requirements

• Applicants must have at least (A) five years of full-time, or equivalent part-time, technical experience in the construction, inspection and/or alteration of construction projects such as highways, buildings, bridges, tunnels, sewers, waterways, dams and parks, or (B) any equivalent combination of the required experience and the substitutions below.

Responsibilities

• Assist the District Materials Engineer by directing the activities of the laboratory personnel.
• Perform laboratory testing which includes HMA mix verification including source and consensus properties of the constituent materials which requires the use of the Gyratory Compactor, LA Abrasion test apparatus, ignition oven, warming oven, and specific gravity bench.
• Perform plant inspections (HMA and cement concrete) to ensure compliance with our specifications. Samples and tests aggregates in concrete plants to ensure that the aggregate gradation and fineness modulus are within our specification range. Samples and tests Hot Mix Asphalt to determine the asphalt content, gradation and specific gravity of the mix using various pieces of laboratory equipment from the ignition oven to sieves to specific gravity bench. Post the results on the appropriate plant form.
• Determine Specific Gravity of HMA cores and HMA loose mix utilizing the specific gravity bench and following AASHTO specifications.
• Determine Specific Gravity of aggregates, per AASHTO Specifications, using various pieces of laboratory equipment and documenting the results on standard report forms.
• Perform soils and aggregate gradations, per AASHTO Specifications, using various pieces of laboratory equipment and documenting the results on standard report forms.
• Perform Proctor Soil testing, per AASHTO Specifications, utilizing our automated or manual proctor soil testing machine, charting the data points derived by testing on the computer to determine the maximum density and optimum moisture content of the soil and indicating those numbers on the appropriate test form.
• Perform Concrete cylinder strength test utilizing our compression testing machine while adhering to ASTM and AASHTO Specifications.
• Utilize the nuclear density gauge to determine in-place densities.
• Assist other District Departments by obtaining HMA cores.
• Provide instruction to new laboratory personnel by reinforcing the standards that must be followed and follow-up with assessing adherence to standards their annual performance (EPRS) evaluations.
• Set up, breakdown, and clean up the concrete practical test areas to assist with District’s concrete testing instruction and ACI Field Technician certification testing.
• Attend Pre-construction Conferences when the District Material Engineer is unavailable. Makes all in attendance aware on any issues or concerns that we have regarding the materials aspect of the particular project.
• Maintain an open dialog with field personnel regarding their test results.
• Maintain District logs by accurately reporting results.
• Perform routine checks of outstanding material needs status by cross referencing item expenditure on SAM with material documentation posted to the Materials Section internet-based collaborative platform.
• Perform interim reviews on documentation posted to SharePoint for compliance with the requirements on the RMS 360 and MassDOT specifications
• Keep laboratory equipment and facility clean and operational.
• Prepare and review Materials RMS 360 forms for Construction, Maintenance, and Bridge Contracts
• Assist District Quality Engineer as directed.
• Review subordinate employee performance by implementation of the Employee Performance Review System (EPRS).
• Adapt to procedural changes, expand skill sets, and maintain certifications by making a reasonable effort to successfully master new information provided via on-site training, in-house training classes, on-line training classes, and professional certification and re-certification courses.
• Perform work as assigned by DME and DQE.

Benefits

• This position is eligible for a five-thousand dollar ($5,000) signing bonus (“Signing Bonus”) if you are newly hired at MassDOT.
• Comprehensive Benefits
• When you embark on a career with the Commonwealth, you are offered an outstanding suite of employee benefits that add to the overall value of your compensation package. We take pride in providing a work experience that supports you, your loved ones, and your future.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees