Develop a Pavement Management System through the Local Roads Program

The CAMP Summer Internship provides municipalities a way to develop and implement a pavement management system for their agency. Utilizing a college student helps municipalities overcome the time constraints of gathering information and setting up a program that can better assist the local highway departments in understanding, managing, and budgeting for their roadway network maintenance. With the assistance of NYSLTAP – Cornell Local Roads, this program is offered each summer to provide municipalities with the opportunity to develop a pavement management program.

Produced by the Otsego County Planning Department.

Presenters are Jaclyn Courter and Erik Scrivener; directed by Thomas Parker Fish.

More information

Qualifications

College student with an interest in road and highway maintenance and management. Driver's license is required.

Student Interns

Students not recruited directly by the municipality need to submit a resume to Geoff Scott, P.E., Technical Assistance Engineer with the New York State LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program at grs78 [at] cornell.edu (grs78[at]cornell[dot]edu). Interviews will be held through the Cornell Engineering Career Services in March 2024 or directly by the NYSLTAP-CLRP. The New York State LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program will match up students and municipalities as soon as possible after interviews.

Road Surface Management System Interns (1 Position Per Agency)

Students perform the following activities during the summer:

  • collect road inventory and condition surveys
  • determine repair alternatives and associated unit costs
  • generate a prioritized listing of road repairs using CAMP computer program
  • create a five year plan using prioritized listings
  • instruct a municipal employee on how to update CAMP
  • prepare a final summary report; present report to the elected Board
  • provide a copy of the final report, including five-year plan, to NYSLTAP-CLRP and the municipality; complete an internship/program evaluation form
  • assist the highway department in other roles as time permits

After implementing CAMP, students may do other work as needed, possibly including:

  • inventory drainage facilities and sidewalks
  • flag traffic
  • perform highway construction work
  • run equipment on construction sites
  • input data into computer-based mapping programs

As a municipal employee, hours are same as hours of any other summer employee in the department, whether the agency works a five-day or four-day work week during the summer. Training is provided over three days. 1-1/2 days are with the municipal employee and the student together, who are taught about pavement management systems and CAMP in particular. Municipal employees and students work together to survey real roads, input data into CAMP, and generate reports.

Program administrators will make a minimum of two field visits to help students overcome any difficulties specific to the municipality, ensure surveys and reports are created in the proper manner, and to help the public works agency understand that information. In addition, staff will be available to students for phone consultation and by email as needed. Staff also provides necessary computer support and project advice to enable interns and employees to complete CAMP successfully.

Pavement Management Systems (PMS) are tools which allow better use of resources, save time, and help agencies make better decisions about which repairs to use and when to use them. The basis of PMS is illustrated below. The cost of repairs to a road skyrocket if not done at the appropriate time. It is therefore less expensive to keep good roads in good shape. A quality PMS will help decision makers select the proper repair treatment and apply it at the appropriate time.

The project is a network-level pavement management system implemented using a computer-based software package. It provides information on the condition, traffic, and importance of roads in a network to create a long-term maintenance program. This helps municipalities apply limited budget resources where they will provide the greatest road quality benefits.

Pavement management is a planning and budgeting tool to help managers make more consistent, cost effective, and defensible decisions about what work to do and when to do it. It helps decision making by providing information about inventory, condition, and cost of various work. Highway officials must make the final decisions.

Benefits of the CAMP summer internship (formerly known as the RSMS Summer Intern Project) reported by the participants have included:

  • Helping a new highway superintendent learn about the condition of the Town roads
  • Providing continuity between successive superintendents
  • Justification for increased funding for highways
  • More effective use of funds

The following have participated in the Summer Intern Project, previously known as the RSMS Summer Intern Project, since 1993. 138 municipalities have participated in this program, some multiple times.

  • Allegany County—County
  • Auburn—City
  • Augusta—Town
  • Aurora—Town
  • Ballston—Town
  • Barrington—Town
  • Bennington—Town
  • Big Flats—Town
  • Binghamton—City
  • Binghamton University
  • Blooming Grove—Town
  • Briarcliff Manor—Village
  • Brighton—Town
  • Brightwaters—Village
  • Broome—County
  • Caroline—Town
  • Caledonia—Town
  • Camillus—Town
  • Canandaigua—Town
  • Cayuga Heights—Village
  • Celoron—Village
  • Charlton–Town
  • Chautauqua—County
  • Chenango—Town
  • Chili—Town
  • Cicero—Town
  • Clarkstown—Town
  • Clarence—Town
  • Columbia—County
  • Conesus—Town
  • Copake—Town
  • Cornell University
  • Corning—City
  • Cornwall-on-Hudson—Village
  • Cortlandt—Town
  • Covert—Town
  • Croton-on-Hudson —Village
  • Danby—Town
  • Depew —Village
  • Dix—Town
  • Dryden—Town
  • Dryden—Village
  • Dutchess–County
  • Ellicottville–Town
  • Enfield–Town
  • Esopus—Town
  • Essex–County
  • Fairport—Village
  • Farmington—Town*
  • Fayette—Town
  • Galway—Town
  • Geneva—City
  • Glenville – Town
  • Grand Island—Town
  • Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council
  • Greene—County
  • Greenwich - Town
  • Guilford—Town
  • Hamburg—Town
  • Hartland—Town
  • Hempstead—Village
  • Herkimer—County
  • Hoosick—Town
  • Horseheads—Village
  • Hudson - Village
  • Huntington—Town
  • Hurley—Town
  • Irondequoit—Town
  • Ithaca—City
  • Ithaca—Town
  • Jamestown—City
  • Kent–Town
  • Kingston–City
  • Lewisboro—Town
  • Liberty—Town
  • Lindenhurst—Village
  • Lloyd—Town
  • Lodi—Town
  • Lyons—Village
  • Lysander—Town
  • Mamaroneck—Village
  • Manlius—Town
  • Maybrook - Village
  • Montour Falls—Village
  • Mount Hope—Town
  • Mount Morris—Town
  • Mount Pleasant—Town
  • Naples–Town
  • Newark—Village
  • Newburgh—City
  • Niskayuna—Town
  • North Salem—Town
  • Nyack–Village
  • Ogden—Town
  • Oneida—City
  • Oneonta—City*
  • Orangetown—Town
  • Orchard Park - Town
  • Orchard Park—Village
  • Orleans—County
  • Oswego–Town
  • Otsego–County
  • Owego—Town
  • Palmyra—Village
  • Palmyra – Town
  • Patchogue—Village
  • Pendleton—Town
  • Penfield—Town
  • Penn Yan - Village
  • Perinton—Town
  • Phelps—Town
  • Potsdam—Village
  • Potter—Town
  • Preble—Town
  • Putnam—County
  • Ramapo—Town
  • Rochester—Town
  • Rockville Centre—Village
  • Rye Brook—Village
  • Salamanca—City
  • Salina—Town
  • Scarsdale—Village
  • Schenectady—City
  • Schoharie—County
  • Shawangunk—Town
  • Shelter Island—Town
  • Sherburne–Town
  • Silver Creek—Village
  • South Bristol—Village
  • Southeast—Town
  • Southampton - Village
  • Suffolk —County
  • Sullivan – Town
  • SUNY Cortland
  • Syracuse–City
  • Ticonderoga–Town
  • Thompson—Town
  • Tompkins—County
  • Tuxedo—Town
  • Ulster—County
  • Unadilla - Town/Village
  • Union—Town
  • Upper Nyack–Village
  • Urbana—Town
  • Valley Stream–Village
  • Wallkill—Town
  • Warwarsing—Town
  • Warwick—Village
  • Washington—County
  • Washingtonville—Village
  • Wawayanda—Town
  • Wayne—County
  • Webster—Village
  • Westfield—Town
  • Westhampton—Village
  • Williamson–Town
  • Wilton–Town
  • Wyoming County*
  • Yonkers—City

*Class of 2023

Frequently Asked Questions

The CAMP Summer Internship pairs college students with municipalities to develop a pavement management plan for their highway network. During the ten-week program, the student intern along with someone from the municipal agency develop an inventory, conduct road evaluations, prepare unit costs for maintenance practices, and prepare a final report that outlines a five-year management plan for the local roads and streets.

The reasons in the past have varied depending on the needs of the municipal agency. Some just want to get a better understanding on the conditions of their road and street network while others are looking for a more efficient way to evaluate and plan on the necessary maintenance to increase the impact of the limited amount of funding available. Overall, the primary goal is to help set up a comprehensive plan to manage the highway system more efficiently with the limited resources available.

Once you commit to participating, NYSLTAP-CLRP will begin a search for qualified students to serve as interns. Once we match student with municipal agency we provide information regarding the training, which will be held here on the Cornell campus May 21–May 23, 2024. Training includes both the student and a representative of the agency. A participant from the agency learns alongside the student so they can continue the pavement management program in the future. NYSLTAP-CLRP provides full support for the students, agency and the software during the summer and in the future to ensure the program is effective.

NYSLTAP-CLRP initially begins the search for student interns at Cornell University, but we also work with other colleges and universities in New York. We open the intern position to all qualified students and prefer students in an engineering curriculum, particularly the civil engineering field.

We encourage municipalities to recruit local qualified students for the position. These local college students have been found to take a sense of ownership in completing the project.

Students not recruited directly by the municipality need to submit a resume to Geoff Scott, P.E., Technical Assistance Engineer with the NYSLTAP - CLRP at grs78 [at] cornell.edu (grs78[at]cornell[dot]edu.) Interviews will be held through the Cornell Engineering Career Services in March 2023 or directly by NYSLTAP-CLRP. The NYSLTAP - CLRP will match up students and municipalities as soon as possible after interviews.

To participate we suggest you review the goals and municipal requirements, call or email for more information. If you agree to meet the requirements of the project, please send a letter of intent, on municipal letterhead, stating your understanding of the requirements and your commitment to the project for the summer of 2024.

All necessary paperwork must be provided by May 1st, 2024

The student intern is actually hired by the municipality and we recommend a wage between $15-18 per hour for a minimum of 10 weeks. Also, there is some costs for the training here in Ithaca. NYSLTAP-CLRP charges $60 for the training, but this includes both the student and the municipal representative. A copy of the CAMP-RS software needed in the development of the pavement management plan is provided as part of the training. The software alone is normally $90!

Total cost for participation in the NYSLTAP-CLRP CAMP summer intern project for 2024 including intern wages and training here in Ithaca will cost between $6,600 and $7,900 depending upon the wage paid to the student. Please let us know what wage you can offer and realize that in some parts of the state a higher wage may be needed for the intern to be able to afford to live in the area.

Agencies typically cover the travel and housing costs of the intern during training only.

Participation will be on a first come first serve basis. We already have some municipalities signed up and space is limited to 16 municipalities, so the sooner the better. We will be reaching out to everyone who has already expressed an interest and will be making confirmations of who is in the project in early January, 2024. We will be accepting municipal letters until March 1, 2024; however, in previous years we reached our limit well before then. So plan ahead.

Training is held in Riley Robb Hall on the Cornell campus. Students are required to participate for 3 days of training to learn about roadway structure, failure mechanisms and common roadway distresses and how to address them. Municipal employees participate all day on Wednesday covering pavement management, distress identification and repair techniques. Municipal employees and interns work together to learn and share information. The final day of training is cost development and reviewed for all in the morning. In the afternoon of day 3, interns learn to prepare them and allow for additional questions.

The cost of the training is typically covered by the agency which included housing and travel. Training will be held from May 21st - May 23rd. A light breakfast and lunch are provided. If any participants have any dietary needs please let us know.

Training will require a laptop to practice with the software.

Geoffrey Scott, PE
607-255-2806
grs78 [at] cornell.edu (grs78[at]cornell[dot]edu)

or

Barbara Lockwood
607-255-8033
clrp [at] cornell.edu (clrp[at]cornell[dot]edu)

Responsibilities of Participants

New York State LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program

NYSLTAP-CLRP coordinates the intern project via the following activities:

  • Helps recruit qualified students for each participating municipality
  • Trains students and the municipal employees to use the CAMP software
  • Provides support

The Municipality

The municipality has the following responsibilities in the project:

  • Provide an employee familiar with the roads and the highway department’s methods of maintaining the roads to help the student tailor the software to the municipality and to update the system after the student leaves
  • Send an employee to 1 1/2 days of training at Cornell for $60 plus travel expenses (a laptop computer is required for use during training - Windows XP or newer with a minimum of 1GB of RAM)
  • Hires the student at a wage of $15-$18 per hour (depending on the municipality), for a minimum of 10 weeks
  • It is recommended that the municipality pay the student and cover travel and housing expenses during training week
  • Provides a vehicle for the student
  • Provides a computer to run the CAMP Pavement Management software
  • Complete a report to the New York State LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program evaluating their experience

Student Interns

Student interns are responsible for the following activities:

  • Attend three days of training at Cornell University in May
  • Collect road inventory and condition surveys
  • Determine repair alternatives and associated unit costs
  • Generate a prioritized listing of road repairs using the software
  • Create a five-year plan using prioritized listings
  • Instruct a municipal employee on how to update the software
  • Help the highway department in other roles as time permits
  • Complete an evaluation report to the New York State LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program to suggest improvements to the program and summarize their experience
  • Student Interns are hired by the municipality and are subject to any rules or procedures of the municipality. Hours of employment are the same as the hours of any other summer employee of the department whether the agency works a five-day or four-day work week during the summer.
  • Interns must possess a valid drivers license