Vermont construction and materials bureau outlines testing, recycled materials and digital record upgrades

MONTPELIER, Jan. 16 — Mohan Chugagulich, director of the Construction and Materials Bureau, told the House Transportation Committee the bureau’s work centers on construction oversight and materials testing after contracts are awarded.

“The majority of the work what we do is providing the oversight during the construction,” Chugagulich said, adding the bureau also operates a materials certification unit, a geotechnical section and an e‑Construction unit that manages software and data collection.

The bureau said it administers roughly 50 to 80 construction contracts per year and manages annual contractor payments on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars. Doug Bono, the state construction engineer, said many of those projects include federal participation and therefore must meet federal standards and related program conditions.

Why it matters: the bureau enforces contract requirements and tests materials that become part of state road and bridge projects. Its decisions affect contractor payments, the quality of pavements and bridges, and how recycled and alternative materials are validated for use on state projects.

Construction oversight and staffing

Chugaguli…