Management of a highway network on one of the largest countries in the world with a geographic diversity of vast Amazon regions, millions of hectares of developing agricultural lands, huge and well developed mining regions, thousands of kilometers of unspoiled beaches and vast wetlands areas presents a major challenge. A challenge that must be met by a new generation of highway professionals in Brazil. Such was the task facing the Federal Highway Department of Brazil in early 1993, as it was preparing an emergency training program to be completed over the next three years. Design engineers, accountants and managers at the Central office in Brasilia needed their skills upgraded in leadership, computers, environmental sensitivity, and new design technology. Engineers and inspectors at the Districts needed their skills upgraded in quality control, asphalt mix design and placement, and pavement maintenance and rehabilitation. And at the State level especially in the developing Northeastern States of Maranhao, Puiui, and Tocantins there was a need to provide decentralized training at a level appropriate for State level engineers and technicians. This paper shows how decentralized training at 80 training sessions, simultaneous course preparation of 23 different curriculums with over 140 sub-units and implementation at workshop locations from the Amazon in the north to the industrial city of Curitiba in the south resulted in the successful training of over 2130 highway professionals in Brazil. (A)
Samenvatting