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Not only was she eastern Ontario’s first representative on the ’s Good Roads/OAPC Municipal HMA Liaison Committee, project manager Melanie Knowles is its only female member.

“The group has been so welcoming and inclusive. I don’t feel any different from the others around the table. We focus on technical aspects and we all take turns voicing our opinions and ideas,” says Knowles.

Comprised of municipal owner representatives and those from the hot mix asphalt industry, including contractors, consultants and researchers, the 20-member committee’s role is to bring owners and the industry together to discuss and debate issues, and make recommendations affecting asphalt pavement road construction.

There are currently nine municipal members, 10 industry members and one co-ordinator.

Besides the committee, there are three subcommittees: innovation/education, contractor work, and quality assurance. Business meetings at the main or parent committee are conducted in a hybrid in-person and virtual format to allow members from across the province to participate. All the subcommittee meetings are conducted virtually.

Currently the municipal liaison committee is working on a standard contractor and consultant evaluation form for use by owners, an asphalt paving checklist for quality assurance inspection, and making recommendations to the Ontario Provincial Specifications 310 committee.

OPS 310 specification covers the requirements for the placement and compaction of hot mix asphalt designed using the Marshall or Superpave methods.

Other ongoing initiatives include organizing educational webinars and tours, providing input on OAPC’s Trillium Certification Program, which recognizes excellence in hot mix asphalt plant operations, and administering the council’s Municipal Paving Awards.

Knowles has been heavily involved in developing the soon-to-be-released asphalt paving checklist. It’s a comprehensive list of inspection activities to undertake before, during and after paving as well as a troubleshooting guide, she says.

It also contains sections on asphalt paving, surface treatment, crack sealing and other paving procedures.

“This easy-to-understand tool will be available in paper and app format for construction inspectors.”

Knowles worked with City of Oshawa chief materials inspector Scott Robinson to collect reference materials and review a draft compiled by committee co-ordinator Amin Mneina.

When asked how and why she became a member of the municipal liaison committee, Knowles says the reason is two-fold. First of all, she was invited to join in 2019 as the committee was seeking representation from eastern Ontario which it didn’t have at the time.

“My role would be to relay questions, concerns and suggestions to the committee from an eastern region perspective. At the time (of the invitation), I was the only representative east of the GTA.”

Since then, City of Ottawa quality assurance specialist Christian Pelletier has joined the committee.

On a personal basis she wanted to be a member, “to learn more about the science of asphalt and the industry.”

In her role as a project manager for the City of Kingston, which she has held since 2023, Knowles manages the design and implementation of road, bridge and retaining wall construction projects and has also been involved in the long-term planning of roads and structural assets.

Previously, she was manager of engineering and operations for the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. One of her most interesting projects during her time with that municipality was the rehabilitation of the Hyndman Bridge south of Ottawa.

“This structure may not look intriguing to the regular bystander, but to the engineers designing the rehabilitation it sure was.”

Built in 1977, the two-span exposed concrete deck over four pretensioned girders was deteriorating prematurely at an accelerated rate. Some of the prestressing strands in the bottom flange of the exterior girders were exposed and so corroded that they were fully severed. Due to the increased traffic in the area, the bridge was also structurally deficient, she says.

The condition was discovered by the municipality’s consultant, TSI during the mandated two-year inspection. That discovery was the catalyst for a ban on heavy trucks on the bridge, she points out.

To repair and strengthen the girders the consultant recommended they be wrapped with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets. That recommendation was approved and the work carried out. Describing the rehabilitation as a “long-term temporary solution,” she says it will probably give the bridge at least another 10 years of service life.

While this technique isn’t new, the consultant used a hybrid design method based on the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code and ACI 440.2R from the American Concrete Institute, says Knowles.

Knowles will be presenting a case study on it at the 16th International Symposium on Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Reinforcement for Concrete Structures in New Orleans on March 24.

A second question posed to Knowles was why she chose engineering as a career. That path started when she was still a preteen.

“It may sound cliché, but I was walking across the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge from Dartmouth to Halifax when I found myself in awe of the magnitude and beauty of the structure. Motorists and pedestrians go over and under bridges every day, rarely giving it a second thought.

“But the amount of planning and work that goes into building these amazing structures is something I knew I wanted to be a part of. So, at just 12 years old, I decided I wanted to be a bridge engineer.”