Public lecture to discuss how road conditions in N.L. can be improved

Oct 29th, 2019

By Jackey Locke

There's always room for improvement: Public lecture to discuss how road conditions in N.L. can be improved

If you’ve spent any time in Newfoundland and Labrador, you know that pot holes, ruts and cracking pavement are very real safety concerns for drivers.

An upcoming public lecture by Dr. Kamal Hossain, a civil engineering professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, will provide an overview of N.L. road conditions, pavement maintenance and the challenges and opportunities for improving road and highway conditions in the province.

Dr. Hossain will examine the issues of potholes, ruts, cracks and maintenance costs of the province’s roads and city streets. He will also discuss how climate change will affect our road performance in the future. Dr. Hossain will share his thoughts on how pavement stakeholders, including government; municipalities; contractors; and Memorial University can work together to tackle these challenges to improve road conditions and safety.

Dr. Hossain is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Memorial University. Previously, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in pavement and transportation research groups at the University of Illinois, U.S. and the University of Waterloo, Canada. He received his PhD degree from the University of Waterloo in 2014. He is a member of the standing committees on Pavement Maintenance and Asphalt Sealants for the U.S. National Transportation Research Board. He leads a Research Task Force at the Academy of Pavement Science (APSE). He is also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers Bituminous Committee, the Canadian Technical Asphalt Association and the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. At Memorial, he teaches highway engineering and infrastructure management courses.

Currently, his team is working on various research topics in pavement engineering, supported by Memorial, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Harris Centre MMSB and the City of St. John’s.

Everyone is welcome to this free public lecture, titled How road conditions in N.L. can be improved, takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. in the S. J. Carew (Engineering) Building, room EN-2006.

A reception will follow; free parking is available in lot 60.

The Speaking of Engineering Lecture Series is hosted by the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial University and the Professional Engineers & Geoscientists Newfoundland & Labrador.

The purpose of the lecture series is to promote engineering in our province and to raise awareness of engineering-related issues among students, the academic community and the general public.