CEE 595
Construction Materials

Course Introduction

CEE 595, Construction Materials, is a required course for the Certificate Program in Infrastructure Construction and for the distance learning Master of Science in Construction Management or Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering program. You will have ten weeks in which to complete all course requirements

Most heavy construction projects involve at least some of the materials covered in this course. We will not attempt to cover all possible heavy construction materials.

Course Description

This course will provide you with detailed knowledge of aggregates, bituminous mixtures, portland cement concrete, roller compacted concrete, soil and site stabilization, utility cuts, and flowable backfill, as well as background information on basic soil properties and characterization. You'll learn about the behavior of these materials in various construction applications through text readings, online discussions, and outside readings. You will have an opportunity to develop your written presentation skills by writing two research papers.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites other than basic Distance Learning entrance requirements. The lesson content should be accessible to you even if your knowledge of soils, aggregates, hot mix asphalt, and portland cement concrete is limited.

Course Objectives

When you have finished this course, you will be able to

• describe a selection of key construction materials and why each might be used;
• describe the physical properties of key pavement materials, tests used to measure these properties, and construction operations required to produce these materials;
• explain the basics of hot mix and portland cement concrete mix design and their various components;
• identify and describe typical tests used to measure quality and contract compliance; and
• evaluate and recommend the best use of aggregate, HMA, PCC and site/soil stabilization agents in a specific construction scenario.

Course Content

• Lesson One: Introduction
  This lesson introduces you to the course materials: how traditional construction materials have changed over time, definitions, and how long things last.
• Lesson Two: Soils and Aggregates
  In this lesson, you'll learn about basic soils properties and classifications and aggregate production and characterization. You'll look at a case study on aggregate production.
• Lesson Three: Bituminous Materials—Asphalt
  This lesson presents a historical context for paving asphalts (from Trinidad to crude oil); the development of hot mix asphalt and the equipment required to mix, place, and compact; and binder grading systems.
• Lesson Four: Hot Mix Asphalt—Mix Design
  The focus of this lesson is on the Superpave mix design system, including related tests and criteria.
• Lesson Five: Hot Mix Asphalt—Construction and Performance
  This lesson covers various construction aspects of hot mix asphalt and performance measures and tests.
• Lesson Six: Portland Cement Concrete—Traditional PCC
  In this lesson, you'll learn the fundamentals of concrete, hydraulic cements, other cements, admixtures, proportioning, batching, mixing, transporting, placing and curing, hot- and cold-weather concreting, and control tests. You'll also study supplemental case studies that highlight PCC materials used in large infrastructure projects.
• Lesson Seven: Portland Cement Concrete—Roller Compacted Concrete, Mass Concrete, and Shotcrete
  In addition to covering these special types of concrete, this lesson also presents two supplemental case studies on RCC and mass concrete.
• Lesson Eight: Portland Cement Concrete—HIPERPAV II
  This lesson introduces the HIPERPAV II software—an aid in concrete pavement construction.
• Lesson Nine: Soil and Site Stabilization Including Utility Cuts and Flowable Backfill
  This lesson covers soil stabilization (lime, asphalt, cement mostly) and site stabilization. We will also briefly discuss materials for utility cuts and flowable backfills.
• Lesson Ten: Preparing for the Final Exam

Course Elements

Lessons

The course is organized into 10 lessons, to be completed in 10 weeks. (The tenth lesson is a preparation for the final exam.) The time allocated for each lesson is typically Monday through Sunday. The core of each lesson is a PowerPoint presentation that is roughly equivalent to a lecture or series of lectures. Some lessons also include supplemental case-study PowerPoint files that describe a construction material's use in a specific project.

PowerPoint Files

The principal content of each lesson is contained in a PowerPoint file. The lesson itself provides a brief overview and learning objectives and the PowerPoint file provides everything else. These PowerPoint files make extensive use of the "notes" section, so be sure to make that section available for viewing. We provide the PowerPoint files in two formats for your convenience: HTML format (the whole presentation comes up as a Web page) and .ppt format (a traditional PowerPoint file that you can view on your PC using Microsoft PowerPoint or a PowerPoint viewer). This dual format enables you either to view the the presentations online or download them to your computer. Each PowerPoint file contains the following key slides in order of their appearance in the PowerPoint file:

• Title—the title of the lesson, the lesson number, and the class designation;
• Reading—a list of the required readings associated with the lesson;
• Lesson Outline— a brief numbered outline of the lesson topics;
• Lesson Material—any number of slides containing the material for the lesson;
• Study Questions—A slide containing several study questions (see below for an explanation of study questions);
• Discussion Forum—the question you will respond to in the discussion forum for that lesson (see below for an explanation of the discussion forum).

Reading

Most lessons have associated assigned readings, which provide essential background material and a good discussion of each lesson's major teaching points. You should read the online lesson narrative first or let the online narrative guide your reading of the referenced sections in the various readings. To gain the most value from the course, you should complete all assigned readings.

Communication

Please use the General Discussion Forum to communicate with your instructors about your papers, the discussion forum, and related questions. Since your instructors receive a high volume of e-mail daily, your questions will be answered more quickly (by either your instructors or your fellow students) through the discussion forum than they would be through e-mail.

Study Questions

Study questions are ungraded questions provided to help you review the material presented in the lessons. Use them to make sure you understand and can apply key concepts. If you find you cannot answer a question to your satisfaction, review the related reading and lesson, or contact an instructor for clarification.

Discussion Forum

Each lesson includes a required online discussion forum. You will be required to post a response to the "discussion forum" questions listed in each lesson, and to respond to the posting of at least one of your fellow students. You may also use the weekly discussion forums to pose your own questions about the lesson topics. Because we assume you will probably work on your papers during the weekend, we require you to participate in the discussion forum during the week to motivate you to review the online lesson and read the required reading before the weekend, think about the issues addressed in the assigned reading, interact with your classmates, and ask any questions while your instructors are available (as they may not be available during the weekend).

Assignments

Rather than traditional problem-solving assignments, this course require you to write two papers, each about 10 pages long, in which you will explore a course topic in greater depth. Assignments for the course are all centered on these papers; there are specific due dates for

• identifying and describing a paper topic;
• providing an outline and reference list; and
• submitting the completed paper.

See the "About the Research Papers" link on your online syllabus for more details.

Examinations

There will be one final examination and no midterm. The final exam will be open book and open notes.

Grading

Table 1.0—Course grade elements and respective percentages.

Course Element	% of Grade
Paper #1	25%
Paper #2	25%
Participation via Discussion Forum	20%
Final Exam	30%
Total	100%

Taking an Online Course

Online courses can be difficult because of the lack of in-person communication. However, they also have some advantages: they allow you to work at your own pace, you get more individualized assistance from the instructor, and you can now use online technologies that work to create community. For additional resources that will help you in your distance learning experience, please see the Online Student Handbook on your online course syllabus.

While taking this course, you will primarily interact with the instructors through the discussion forum, but you may also find occasion to e-mail or possibly telephone. You can also interact with other students in the discussion forum to share ideas, hints, tips, and questions.

How to Submit Assignments

Please see the "About Your Instructors" link on the course syllabus for information on submitting assignments.

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