September 2013, Vol. 68 No. 9

A toddler died and at least 16 people were injured when a water main exploded over a Rio de Janeiro neighborhood in Brazil, flooding the area and destroying cars and property.

FMI, a leading provider of management consulting and investment banking to the engineering and construction industry, released its Q2-2013 Construction Outlook. The strength of individual markets is shifting, reducing annual Construction-Put-In-Place predictions to $913 billion, a 7 percent growth from 2012.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a final rule that will require all federal agencies to submit their OSHA-required injury and illness data to the Bureau of Labor Statistics every year.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and the Association of the Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) released a report in July examining the vital role of tax-exempt municipal bonds in funding drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.

Despite North Carolina’s reputation as a center of research and higher learning, many businesses and residents struggle with limited or non-existent Internet access. As RST Global Communications LLC (RST) expands its service footprint statewide, those technology issues could soon be a thing of the past.

The Water Service Department of Kansas City, MO, has recently begun work on the Blue River WWTP Disinfection project. This $96 million project was undertaken to improve the quality of the effluent that the city’s six wastewater treatment facilities release back into area waterways. It is the last and largest disinfection project and part of Water Services’ 25-year federally mandated Overflow Control Program.

The head of Canadian energy company TransCanada Corporation said in July that the timeline for U.S. approval of the multibillion-dollar Keystone XL crude oil pipeline will make the second half of 2015 start date of operations challenging, reports Bloomberg.

More pipelines to move Bakken oil from North Dakota to refineries are needed to help ease safety concerns after a crude-carrying train derailed in the state in late December 2013, U.S. Senator John Hoeven, (R-ND), said Jan. 12 on Platts Energy Week. The accident was the third in the last six months that involved the transport of crude by rail.

JetScan, the quick, easy way for a sewer cleaning crew to see inside buried pipe, now features a new sled design that keeps footage smooth and upright, and which can be outfitted with extension rollers to handle larger-diameter lines.

Fecon introduces the new FMA8039 Hydraulic Powered Milling Attachment rated at 260-550 hp, to process soil, stumps and roots up to 20 inches below grade. A massive weight of approximately 11,000 pounds (depending on options) keeps the attachment engaged as carbide tools cut through an 80-inch wide path of material.

Grindex’s launch of its updated range of drainage and sludge pumps include the Minex, Minette, Minor, Major, Master and Matador drainage pumps and the Salvador, Senior and Sandy sludge pumps. The units deliver improved pumping performance, while the need for maintenance and spare parts has been reduced.

Drilling and completion crews can now handle the biggest rig mat cleaning jobs in hours instead of days, thanks to the new DURA-BASE T-REX Mat Cleaning System. The T-REX compliments Newpark Mat and Integrated Services’ DURA-BASE Advanced-Composite Mats and was developed to reduce the time needed to clean rig matting and speed the site-to-site redeployment of equipment and completion operations.

PFERD has developed a line of innovative new PLAST Cut TC Burs specially designed for working on less hard glass and carbon fiber reinforced duroplastics. Two cylindrical-shaped versions are available: PLAST Cut TC burs with Special End Cut, for use with CNC machines and robots, and PLAST Cut TC Burs with a Center Drill for manual use.

PipePatch restores structural integrity to damaged pipes and exceeds Specification ASTM F1216 for cured-in-place pipe (CIPP). Although cure times vary due to host pipe material and temperatures, typical cure times are achieved in one to three hours.

Buried pipe installers, rehab contractors and owners now have a WRc Approved option for laser ovality measurement. WinCan LaserScan software, distributed in North and South America exclusively through Pipeline Analytics, is now WRc Approved per PT/342/0713.

For fast open-cut excavation, contractors can rely on the new Eagle 7500 Wheel Trencher manufactured by Trenchers and Equipment Inc. Ideal for high production trenching in most soil conditions, the Eagle 7500 is an efficient and well balanced, heavy duty machine.

The Sault Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, provide passage for an average of 10,000 ships each year, only shutting down during the winter months due to weather conditions. To help break up the ice that builds up on and in the locks, a set of air compressors are used to bubble up the water to break the ice. However, the existing air compressors needed to be upgraded.

Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas Inc. has added two new production class crawler excavators to its product line-up: the R480LC-9A and the R520LC-9A. These new excavators feature a certified Interim Tier 4 engine upgrade, improved hydraulics, increased operator comfort and more durability.

Electro Scan Inc., a global innovator of leak detection instrumentation and cloud computing applications, has been selected by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) as recipient of the 2013 Innovative Technology Award.

Plastic pipe fusion and fittings from GF Piping Systems, McElroy, IPEX Inc., Footage Tools and Q-TEK.

Reamers and hole openers from Atlas Copco, Century Products, Horizontal Technology, Vermeer, Radius HDD Tools, INROCK, American Augers, Melfred Borzall, Railhead Underground Products and Sharewell HDD Services.

Wireline locators from INROCK, Horizontal Technology, Sharewell HDD Services and Underground Tools Inc.

Walkover locators from Ditch Witch, Radiodetection/SPX Corp. and Digital Control Inc.

HDD Rigs from TT Technologies, Toro, Vermeer, Ditch Witch, Barbco, American Augers and Universal HDD.

Remote inspection equipment from CUES, Envirosight, Aries Industries and R.S. Technical Services.

Piercing tools from TT Technologies, HammerHead Trenchless Equipment, Vermeer, Hudco Mfg. and Footage Tools.

Inside Drops for Sanitary Manholes eliminate outside drops, clean up failed inside drops and are excellent as stormwater drops and in lift stations.

RootX is a dry powdered formula which foams on contact with water. This means RootX can be applied directly from the package or with existing sewer maintenance equipment. If you have a sewer maintenance crew, you can do root control with RootX.

Electro Scan Inc., a global innovator of leak detection instrumentation, and Swiss-based CD Lab AG, the world’s leading provider of sewer pipeline assessment software, with its leading flagship product, WinCan, announced a global partnership to offer an integrated solution.

American Augers has announced the appointment of Richard Levings to the position of director of product management. Levings will represent not only American Augers products but the newly acquired Trencor line.

As part of an expanded commitment to serve customer demand, Hunting Trenchless has partnered with The Charles Machine Works Inc. to supply Hunting one-piece forged drill pipe to the Ditch Witch organization. This pipe will be marketed as the Power Pipe Forged line of drill pipe and will be available through Ditch Witch dealerships.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker traveled to Vermeer Corporation on Aug. 8 as part of her nationwide listening tour, during which she met with businesses and thought leaders to hear about their priorities, concerns and ideas on how the public and private sectors can work together to strengthen the economy and create American jobs.

Advertisers from the print edition of <em>Underground Construction</em>, September 2013, Vol. 68 No. 9.

Dan Sharpe has joined Sharewell HDD Services as vice president, and part owner and president of its new products subsidiary, Sharewell Drilling Products LLC. In his new role, Sharpe will lead the company’s sales, marketing and product development efforts.

There was a time, back in the 90s, when the horizontal directional drilling market was a huge segment of the annual Underground Construction Technology International Conference & Exhibition. Since then, UCT has grown to truly encompass all aspects of the underground marketplace with construction and rehabilitation of sewer and water systems topping the list.

A listing of both bentonite and polymer drilling fluids, divided by type and company.

ICUEE 2013, the International Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition, will be held Oct. 1-3 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY.

Vermeer will introduce a new 240,000-plus pound pullback horizontal directional drill (HDD) at the 2013 ICUEE show in Louisville, KY. The D220x300 Navigator is projected to be available during the first quarter of 2014.

R2S Solutions, an Arizona research and development company, has introduced a new fluid recycling system designed specifically for horizontal directional drilling equipment with pullback ratings of 50,000 pounds and less.

Immediately following major disasters, utility crews are busy working to restore vital services.

Long, deep directional drilling installations are never routine – each project is different with its own set of challenges.

Among the most important factors that influence decisions to purchase one product over another is cost. Yet all too often, especially in the world of construction equipment, buyers neglect to look past price and dig deeper to uncover the not-so-obvious ongoing intangible expenses. Such is the case for many trenchless contractors as they navigate their way through the process of acquiring a new horizontal directional drill.

The House Appropriations Committee made huge cuts in the fiscal 2014 budgets of the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF and DWSRF), the main source of federal aid to cities and counties for the purpose of water infrastructure maintenance and construction.