Officials gather for annual Road School

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Indiana transportation officials are spending the week studying how to make getting around in the state more efficient.

Purdue University kicked off its annual Road School today. Participants said, the event is a staple for anyone who wants to know anything about transportation in the state of Indiana.

"It's pretty much the premiere event in the state, year to year," said Steve Chastain, CTL Engineering's Business Development Manager. "They're going on 100 years now, so I think it's pretty much second to none."

It's such a popular event, that it's hard to secure a spot at the conference's exhibitors luncheon, Chastain said. His company has been attending Purdue University's annual Purdue Road School for the past three years.

"It's an ever-progressing industry," he said. "As an engineering community, I think this type of event is irreplaceable by anything else. We're constantly changing, there's new technologies, there's better, cheaper, more efficient ways of building projects, and in the end most of the individuals here are municipal based, so we're talking taxpayer money."

It's not just about saving money. Many sessions at the three-day conference address some key safety issues.

"I will be covering the basics of bridges," said Jeff Mishler, one of the event's speakers. "Basically, maintenance requirements, indicators of deterioration, other signs that maintenance is needed to be performed."

These are issues that participants say are crucial for transportation officials to know about, and keep people like Ed King, an exhibitor with Southeastern Equipment Company, coming back year after year.

"20 years has been a good time," King said. "So, I've enjoyed it and met a lot of neat people all over the state."

The conference runs until Thursday. The sessions are all free and open to the public, but registration is required.