Earthwork and Base Course Technician Recertification

There are now two options available for re-certification as an Earthwork and Base Course Technician.

1. Exam only
2. Attend full Earthwork and Base Course Technician course

Exam Only Option
Individuals who pass the written exam with a score of 80% or higher will be re-certified to perform Earthwork and Base Course Technician duties on SCDOT projects for a period of three years. No re-test option is available for individuals who do not pass the written exam.  If an individual does not pass the written exam, that individual must attend a full Earthwork and Base Course Technician course in order to attempt certification again.

No materials may be brought into the exam other than pencils and a calculator. Cell phones must either be left outside the testing facility or surrendered to the proctor during the exam. A clean copy of the course manual will be provided to each attendee at the exam. For preparation purposes, the sections of the manual are available electronically below.  However, course materials can be updated at any time, and these electronic materials may not be the most updated version.  The most updated version of the course materials is distributed to all course registrants on the first day of the course.   

NEW: SCDOT SC-T-1 Coarse Aggregate Sampling Training Video

Section 1 - Pipe Installation
Section 2 - Geosynthetics
Section 3 - Standard Specification Slides
Section 4 - Problems
Section 5 - Sampling and Testing Slides
Section 6 - CMRB
Section 7 - Soil as a Construction Material
Other SCDOT Resources^(*Note)

Note: Other materials in the manual for this course are not posted here because of periodic updates by SCDOT.  Those materials include selected sections of the SCDOT Construction Manual, SCDOT Supplemental Specifications, SCDOT Test Procedures, and SCDOT Forms, and SCDOT QPLs.  The most updated versions of all of those materials may be found on the SCDOT website (www.scdot.org).

Full Course Option
Individuals who complete the four-and-a-half (4½) day course, pass the written exam with a score of 80% or higher, and pass all four (4) field tests will be re-certified to perform Earthwork and Base Course Technician duties on SCDOT projects for a period of five years. If an individual does not pass the written exam but scores at least 60% or higher, one re-test attempt is allowed for an additional fee. One re-test attempt is also allowed for each of the four (4) field tests.  In that individual does not pass the written exam (and/or the field tests, if applicable) during the re-test attempt, the individual must attend another full Earthwork and Base Course Technician course in order to attempt certification again.

Course Outline: 
The course contains a general overview of material including all specification and procedural changes that may have occurred. The participants are also required to perform mathematical problems that occur while working as an earthwork and base course technician.  The instructors for the course are made up of knowledgeable industry consultants, equipment manufacturers, academia, and SCDOT representatives. Participants must both pass a written exam (open book and open notes) with a score of 80% or higher, and individually demonstrate proficiency (closed book and closed notes) in the following four (4) required field tests:

• Stockpile Sampling of Aggregate (SC-T-1 and 2)
• Moisture Content with Speedy Moisture Tester (SC-T-22)
• One-Point Proctor (SC-T-29)
• Density with Nuclear Gauge (SC-T-31)

Entry Requirements/What to Expect:

Prerequisites

• Current Earthwork and Base Course Technician Certification

Frequency of Re-certification:
The certification period is three years with the exam only option and five years when taking the full course.  It is the responsibility of the individual to keep track of his/her certification expiration date. The individual is also responsible for registering for the re-certification exam or course, attending the re-certification exam or course, passing the written exam with a score of 80% or higher, and passing all four (4) field proficiency tests.

Re-certification Date Policy (as of June 2005):
The SCDOT Technician Certification Board hereby requests that the certification expiration dates for re-certifications obtained within one year prior to the technician's original date of expiration be issued based on the original expiration date. For example, if a technician's certification expires April 2006, and that technician attends a re-certification course and passes the exam in April 2005, his/her certification will be extended five years from the original April 2006 date to April 2011. However, if that technician chooses to attend a re-certification course in March 2005 and passes the exam, the re-certification will be valid from March 2005 to March 2010 (because the technician passed the exam outside of the one-year window). If that technician does not obtain the re-certification before April 2006, then his/her certification expires on that date.