INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Frank Votapka, P.E.

Frank Votapka, P.E. is a retired Forest Engineer with over 36 years of progressive experience in the field of road design and construction on Forest Service projects on 5 National Forests.  He holds a Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Civil Engineering specializing in Highway Engineering and Geotechnical Engineering.  He is a registered engineer in the State of Montana.  Frank was named Forest Service Engineer of the Year in 1992.  He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and has held several state and national positions with ASCE.  He has conducted several seminars and assisted in teaching several engineering and management related courses in his career.

Rich Hovey, P.E., PMP

From Rich Hovey, P.E., PMP

Since 1977 I have been the lead instructor in the Basic Manual Road Design Course. In the last few years my professional practice has taken me deep into the territory of Project Management, Risk Management, and Microsoft Project and has taken me literally around the world and away from daily involvement with low volume roads. I feel it is both unethical and unprofessional for me to continue as lead instructor of an important course like Basic Manual Road Design when I am no longer actively practicing on a daily basis.

I began working with Frank Votapka , P.E. when, in the early days of Basic Road Design, the Forest Service assigned him to oversee and assist me with the course. Through the years he has become a valued colleague hosting me on field trips to several of the forests he has worked on. Frank has served, along with many other experienced Forest Engineers, as guides and quality control experts to keep me, along with other instructors, on the track to make Basic Road Design a valuable training mission for the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs. I also have known Frank through our activities in the American Society of Civil Engineers. And Frank has been a big proponent and supporter of Basic Road Design through the years. Many of you who are reading this and worked for Frank have been sent to Bozeman and Basic Road Design by Frank. What you may not know is how closely he monitored your progress in the class, not to keep an eye on you but to make sure there were no impediments to your learning. He has been one of, if not the most, conscientious sponsor of participants in the course through the years.

I am quite pleased that Frank has agreed to carry Basic Road Design on forward. I know the course will change and will be improved under Frank’s management. I hope to continue teaching parts of the course as Frank requests along with other experienced people he will be recruiting. I’m sure I can promise you one thing. The course will still be a lot of work because the adult learner learns by doing. You can plan on doing a lot.

We’ll see you in the classroom!