Auburn prepares to host 67th Annual Alabama Transportation Conference
Published: Jan 29, 2024 12:00 PM
By Dustin Duncan
As a leader in transportation research and workforce development, Auburn University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is once again at the forefront, with eight faculty members serving on the 67th Annual Alabama Transportation Conference (ATC) Program Committee. The ATC Program Committee is chaired by Anton Schindler, the Mountain Spirit Professor of Civil and Environmental engineering and director of the Auburn University Highway Research Center.
“The CEE Department faculty take on an outsize role in the ATC in that they are ultimately responsible for organizing and moderating the various ATC technical sessions,” said Laurence Rilett, Ginn Distinguished Professor and director of the Auburn University's Transportation Research Institute. “Without their dedicated work, the ATC would not be nearly as impactful to the State of Alabama.”
The conference, taking place on Feb. 6-7 at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) in Birmingham, will host nearly 900 attendees, including federal and state highway personnel, road building contractors, general contractors, heavy construction contractors, utility contractors, county engineers, consulting engineers, construction material vendors, researchers, professional society representatives and university faculty members.
This event will allow individuals to share innovative advances in transportation planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance.
Technical sessions and sit-down luncheons will be provided to create a forum for exchanging ideas between transportation engineers and construction professionals. The conference will also include trade exhibits to enhance learning and provide additional networking opportunities for all participants.
The session on Feb. 6 will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a welcome from Dr. Schindler followed by two presentations — one by David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, Virginia, and one by Luther Roberts, CEO of the Huntsville Port Authority in Huntsville, Alabama.
Rod Turochy, the James Madison Hunnicutt Professor in Traffic Engineering, will preside over the Director’s Luncheon, featuring a speech by Alabama Transportation Director John Cooper.
The Tuesday afternoon concurrent technical sessions will focus on reactive and proactive maintenance, geotechnical exploration, design, communication and funding.
Sessions on Feb. 7 begin with concurrent technical sessions on construction, traffic operations and roadway design, the state of asphalt, multimodal transportation, concrete solutions and city and county engineering.
Gov. Kay Ivey is scheduled to provide a speech during the governor's luncheon, which will be presided over by Rilett.
The Alabama Transportation Assistance Program, home to Alabama’s Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), is responsible for all financial and organizational aspects of the ATC. The ATC is funded through conference registration fees, exhibitor fees and ATAP and the ATC is an important part of Alabama’s LTAP outreach portfolio.
The complete program and more information can be found here.
Media Contact: , dzd0065@auburn.edu, 334-844-2326
Anton Schindler, the Mountain Spirit Professor of Civil and Environmental engineering and director of the Auburn University Highway Research Center, speaks at the 66th Alabama Transportation Conference in 2023.
