Lab Units

The Administrative Office Support Unit plays a crucial role in assisting the Material's Administrator, Managers, and the entire Materials and Testing Section by performing a diverse range of activities. This unit is responsible for managing tasks across several key areas, including Administration, Personnel, Fiscal operations, Procurement, Property Control, and General Office functions. Through its comprehensive support, the unit ensures the efficient and effective operation of the Materials and Testing Section, facilitating smooth workflows and maintaining organizational standards.

The Administrative Assistant in the Materials and Testing Section performs a variety of essential functions to ensure the smooth and efficient operation of the unit. This includes coordinating and prioritizing administrative tasks for engineers and lab personnel, managing and routing incoming and outgoing correspondence, and prioritizing documents for the Materials Engineer Administrator. The assistant is also responsible for handling phone calls and messages, scheduling meetings, and making necessary travel arrangements, including car rentals and flight bookings. Additionally, they complete travel authorization documentation and process payroll for administrative unit employees. The role involves providing exemplary customer service to all visitors, ensuring a positive and professional experience at the Materials and Testing Section.

The Office Manager functions performed by this unit encompass a wide range of responsibilities related to Fiscal, Budget, Procurement, Property Control, Human Resources, Payroll, and Accounts Payables. This unit is tasked with managing the Material's Section fiscal documents to ensure compliance with the Department's rules and regulations, particularly concerning the annual budget, while monitoring financial transactions. Responsibilities include initiating shopping carts, purchase orders, petty cash reimbursements, and vendor payments to support daily operations. Additionally, this unit coordinates Property Control inventory for unnumbered equipment, assigns property control numbers, and prepares documentation for the transfer, surplus, or disposal of items. It also processes personnel documentation required by Human Resources and maintains personnel files for the Material's staff. Furthermore, this unit handles all payroll-related tasks, including timekeeping, schedule substitutions, adjustment forms, report creation, auditing timesheets, ensuring payroll deadline compliance, and providing assistance with payroll inquiries. Lastly, it ensures the procurement of goods and services aligns with state laws, as well as the Division of Administration and DOTD policies and procedures.

Cement Lab
This laboratory performs quantitative testing on cement, aggregates, lime, fly ash, mineral filler, and water. Specific chemical properties of these materials are determined by gravimetric tests and atomic absorption spectroscopy testing.

Metals Lab
This laboratory performs tests to determine the amount of zinc coating on galvanized materials such as metal culvert pipe, steel fence posts and wire, and all types of hardware, bolts, nuts, and shapes. This laboratory is also responsible for preparing test specimens of various metal products such as bolts, nuts, washers, steel fence posts, culvert pipe, and stainless steel. These prepared test specimens are forwarded to the Quantitative Lab for testing.

Paint Lab
Performs physical testing on paints, coatings, and related products, such as glass beads used in traffic striping paints and all-purpose blasting sand. Some of the properties tested are weight per gallon, viscosity, percent solids, particle size, gradation, and refractive index. These properties must conform to established limits or the material is rejected.

Quantitative Lab
This laboratory performs quantitative analysis on structural steel, hardware, fence posts, culvert pipe, other metals, herbicides and application aids, epoxies, wood preservatives, oils, cleansers, thermoplastic striping materials, and materials for environmental control. Various standard test methods, atomic absorption spectroscopy, and the Leco Determinator are employed to perform these analyses.

Spectroscopy Lab
In this laboratory, infrared spectroscopy (IR) is used to establish the identity of organic materials to help determine their conformance to specification by comparison of individual IR spectrum to a standard spectrum. Identities are established for admixtures for portland cement concrete, anti-strip additives for asphaltic concrete, paint vehicles, solvents, resins, and various other organic materials. X-ray diffractometry is used to identify and determine the concentration of certain components in paint pigment, cement, fly ash, and other materials having crystalline structured components. Gas chromatography is used to determine the composition and concentration of organic liquids, such as percent alcohol in gasohol, and various chemical components in paint thinners, paint vehicles, and other organic liquids.

About The Chemical Testing Unit
This unit performs chemical testing for acceptance and quality control of materials and products used in the Department's construction and maintenance program and for in-house operations. In addition to routine acceptance and quality control chemical testing, this unit also provides trouble-shooting services on problems of a chemical nature, such as analyzing used oil from motor-driven equipment and aircraft to monitor engine wear. It also assists project engineers with problems with coating systems.

A principal function of the Materials Qualifications Unit is the coordination, development, revision, and publication of DOTD sampling and testing procedures, and is responsible for compiling all data required for the production of the Materials Sampling Manual(s) and Testing Procedures Manual(s).

All of the above-noted Materials and Testing Section manuals are used daily by Departmental personnel, as well as other governmental agencies, contractors, consultants, and product manufacturers and suppliers. Manuals are published online.

The Materials Qualifications Unit serves as the coordinator of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Accreditation Program for the state. The LA DOTD has the honor of being the first state laboratory to acquire national accreditation status through this federal program. The accreditation status must be renewed annually.

The Materials Qualifications Unit is also responsible for the development, implementation, administration, and maintenance of the Section's Structured Training Program, including program compliance, qualification for promotions, reallocations, and merit increases.

Also publishes and maintains other policies and procedures pertinent to the operation of the Materials and Testing Section.

Other functions of the Materials Qualifications Unit include serving as a liaison for distributing ASTM and AASHTO Qualifications for DOTD, maintaining other state's specifications and materials manuals, and performing other related duties. Duties also include updating statewide forms and posting the most current online.

The Materials Qualification Unit is also responsible for maintaining all Specialty Product Evaluation submittal files, correspondence between vendor and evaluator, and coordinates the quarterly meeting.

Aggregate Testing Lab

The Aggregate Testing Laboratory is responsible for source approval of all aggregates submitted for use by DOTD and for maintaining the Department's AML on approved aggregate sources. The laboratory also aids DOTD Districts in quality assurance testing of certain aggregates, such as stone, fly ash, slag, and synthetic aggregates, performs studies on potential uses of aggregates, and performs on-site geological evaluations of quarries for source approval.

Basic testing performed by the Aggregate Testing Laboratory includes the determination of frictional properties, durability, absorption properties, specific gravities, moisture-density relationships, unit weights, and compaction factors.

Soils Mechanics Lab

This laboratory tests samples from soil borings obtained by soils exploration crews to determine foundation conditions for bridges, radio towers, and other structures.

The primary tests conducted on soil cores are unconfined compression, triaxial compressive strength, and consolidation. This lab also conducts direct shear, permeability, resistivity, specific gravity, and special strength testing on other soil materials.

Soils Physical Testing Lab

This laboratory tests soils and related materials used in the construction and maintenance of transportation facilities. It performs most of the classification tests on the soil samples obtained from the deep foundation borings. It also provides support testing for the Soil Mechanics and Aggregate Testing Laboratories. Some of the tests run include mechanical analysis, Atterberg limits, moisture-density relationships, compaction factors, pH values, and organic content. Additional functions include sieve analysis of aggregates, molding and breaking cement-treated specimens to determine required cement content, and evaluation of new soil or base course related products. Data, recommendations, and reports are generated based on test results.

Personnel from this laboratory are also assisting in the evaluation of erosion control products for the Department's AML on approved erosion control products.

About The Soils Aggregate Unit

The responsibilities of this unit include testing and analyzing soils and aggregates in order to provide foundation design data and evaluation of materials for suitability for their intended use on DOTD roads, bridges, and other projects. Data is compiled and reported on Soil Boring Logs which become part of the general construction plans for the project. Other materials are reported in Site Manager Materials.

Asphalt Products Lab

This laboratory tests the physical properties of asphalt cement, cutback asphalt, asphalt emulsion, polymerized asphalt, crack and joint fillers, flexible plastic gaskets, grease, oil, bituminous mixtures, roofing felt, anti-strip additives, antifreeze, and similar miscellaneous materials.

Typical properties tested are flash point, pour point, viscosity, specific gravity, ductility, rate of flow, percent absorption, percentage of residue, particle charge, penetration, softening point, bitumen content, Marshall stability and flow, and Abson recovery.

This laboratory has received national accreditation by the AASHTO Accreditation Program for asphalt cement, emulsified asphalt, and bituminous mixtures.

The Asphalt Products Lab is also responsible for maintaining the Department's AMLs for asphaltic materials, mineral filler for asphaltic concrete, anti-strip additives, asphalt mix release agents, flexible plastic gaskets, silicone additives for asphalt cement, and bituminous adhesive.

Geotextile, Rubber, and Joint Materials Lab.

This laboratory is responsible for the evaluation and testing of rubber products, such as elastomeric bearing pads, elastomeric compression seals, rubber gaskets, and similar miscellaneous materials. Typical properties tested are tensile strength, elongation, hardness, ozone resistance, oil swell, recovery, force deflection, extrusion, penetration, resilience, and compression/deflection.

This laboratory is also responsible for the evaluation and testing of geotextiles, geocomposites, and paper products. Geotextiles used for flexible revetment, riprap, underdrains, etc. are tested for properties such as apparent opening size (AOS), elongation, burst strength, permeability, etc. and paper products for basis weight, absorption rate, total absorption, and tensile strength. Traffic cones are occasionally tested for tensile strength, hardness, etc.

This laboratory is also responsible for maintaining the Department's AMLs on elastomeric bridge bearing pads, preformed elastomeric compression joint seals, geotextiles, elastomeric railroad grade crossings, and reinforced elastomeric joint seals.

Plastic Products Lab

This laboratory tests the physical properties of plastic pipe, thermoplastic striping material, joint sealants and fillers, plastic barrels, flexible posts, greases, and similar miscellaneous materials.

Typical properties tested are tensile strength, elongation, flattening, softening point, specific gravity, flow, bond strength, impact resistance, penetration, resilience, and hardness.

This laboratory is also responsible for maintaining the Department's AMLs on joint sealants and fillers, plastic drums, flexible posts, and thermoplastic pavement markings.

Traffic Control Products Lab

This laboratory tests the reflectance and physical properties of such materials as reflective sign sheeting, raised pavement markers, temporary pavement marking tape, reflectorized traffic striping paint, non-reflective signing material, and similar miscellaneous materials.

Tests run on reflective sheeting include visual tests such as color chromaticity, specular gloss, and specific intensity, and physical tests such as peel or adhesive strength, impact resistance, and flexibility. Tests run on raised pavement markers include reflectivity or brightness, load, impact, and heat resistance.

In addition, this laboratory conducts field evaluations of luminaires and reflective materials by means of portable field telephotometers and other instrumentation for appearance-type measurements. Outdoor weathering racks are maintained and monitored for testing the weatherability of sign sheeting.

This laboratory is responsible for maintaining the Department's AMLs for reflective sheeting, raised pavement markers, barricade warning lights, and temporary pavement markings.

Calibration and Repair

The Testing Equipment Calibration and Repair unit performs inspections and calibrations to ensure continued compliance and performance, as well as any needed maintenance, repair, or reconditioning work to all of the testing equipment used throughout DOTD.

The unit coordinates the statewide use of nuclear density and moisture equipment to ensure proper storage and operation in accordance with the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Radiation Protection Division regulations. This includes the repair, calibration, and annual inspections of over 100 DOTD nuclear devices for general physical condition, conformance to safety regulations, and adequate posting of radiation awareness and caution signs. Personnel perform leak tests on all radioactive sources every 6 months, issue over 400 nuclear radiation film badges to qualified personnel using the equipment, and monitor and submit quarterly reports of radiation dosages of exposed employees.

Equipment and Supplies

The Testing Equipment Unit ensures that all testing equipment used by the department meets NIST, ASTM, AASHTO, and DOTD standards and requirements.

In meeting the department's challenges, present and future, staff members recommend equipment type and capability upgrades.  They write the specifications for the purchase of testing and laboratory equipment.  They inspect, approve, and conduct initial calibration and installation of newly purchased equipment.

The unit coordinates the statewide Testing Equipment Management Program to ensure that the most efficient use of DOTD testing equipment is maintained and upgraded to a state-of-the-art level.  This program provides guidelines for preventive maintenance, purchasing, documentation for calibrations, testing equipment replacement, and the method for requesting repairs and calibrations.

This unit operates a statewide warehouse that provides testing and sampling equipment and supplies, not only to the Materials and Testing Section but to all District Laboratories and project engineering units.  This entity charges the unit with the responsibility of maintaining adequate on-hand quantities of laboratory supplies; including minimum and maximum inventory level recommendations; preparing specifications and purchase requisitions for commodities; proper coding and data entry; and receiving, inspecting, and approving all inventory for specification compliance.  In addition, the unit performs two annual inventories of movable equipment and warehouse.

Internal Profilers

The Testing Equipment Unit coordinates and performs DOTD's annual profiler certification of over 30 internal profilers.  The unit has become a resource for DOTD Project Engineers by providing profiling services for construction jobs, troubleshooting and data analysis assistance, independent assurance testing, and training on the latest updates in profiler technology and analysis software.  The unit offers data collection and analysis assistance for unique areas explored by DOTD.  The Testing Equipment Unit also acts as a 3rd party mediator for conflict resolution.