AASHTO Journal - NCDOT Staff Participate in ‘Explosive’ Technical Training

Forty-seven employees of the North Carolina Department of Transportation staff from across the state recently met for a unique hands-on training course on how to properly handle and use explosives for transportation engineering purposes.

[Above photo by NCDOT]

The week-long training, typically held every autumn, includes front-line transportation workers, early-career engineers, and division leaders.

“Our mission is to get the new folks trained up with all of our seasoned folks that have been doing this for years and crossover to the new generation that, in a few years, will be taking over the program,” explained Mark Scott, an NCDOT safety consultant, in a statement.

Kevin Dixon, one of the transportation workers who attended the course, noted that the explosive training program also helped build camaraderie with his fellow NCDOT employees.

“You meet people from all over the state,” he said. “So, if I’ve got an issue in my division, I don’t hesitate to call somebody on the other end of the state and say, ‘Hey, what would you do about this?’”

Thomas Smith, a transportation engineering associate in the greater Asheville area who joined NCDOT in early 2025, noted that while his day-to-day job likely won’t involve setting explosive charges to clear rock, he found the learning experience at blasting school priceless.

“As an engineer, it’s important to understand all aspects of the [state] DOT, what we do, stuff we may encounter,” Smith said. “I would rather personally have the knowledge of how explosives work, how they’re used safely, so if I’m ever on a jobsite where they’re being used (or) I’m working on a contract where they’re being used, I know that they’re being used safely and appropriately.”

Many state departments of transportation use explosives for a variety of purposes, which includes the triggering of controlled avalanches to protect road users and roadway infrastructure.

For example, the winter operations team at the Colorado Department of Transportation drops explosive charges from helicopters and launches explosive shells from air cannons and artillery howitzers to trigger slides in avalanche paths that threaten state highways

The agency recently tested a new $800,000 Remote Avalanche Control System on the east side of the Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnels, marking what the agency describes as “a major step forward” in modernizing avalanche mitigation operations along the I-70 Mountain Corridor.

The newly installed Wyssen Avalanche Control system allows Colorado DOT’s winter operations team to perform avalanche mitigation work eliminating the need for the long-standing World War II-era artillery previously used to clear snowpack in this area. By operating remotely, crews can safely conduct mitigation any time, day or night, while significantly reducing safety risks and traffic impacts for the traveling public.