April 2015, Vol. 70, No.4

From its humble beginnings as a small Houston firm with two Aggie engineers in 1935 to its current standing as a leading civil engineering firm in the U.S., the journey of Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN) has been one filled with milestones.

BJM Pumps welcomes Dwain Breedlove to the team, serving as Pump Technician.

With potable water main pipe continuing to age, technologies for quick, non-disruptive repairs will not only speed repairs but also help keep costs down.

The Lincoln Electric Co., a subsidiary of Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc., announced the promotion of Anthony Battle to Chief Compliance Officer, effective immediately.

In front of 350 people, including his family, friends and peers, Ron Halderman accepted his induction into the National American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT) Hall of Fame, Class of 2015.

Subsite Electronics has named Jeri Lamerton as the company’s marketing manager.

Click <a href="http://ucononline.com/sites/default/files/UCApril-onecalllist.pdf">here</a> to see April's One Call List.

The <a href="http://digital.turn-page.com/i/494941-april-2015">digital edition</a> of <em>Underground Construction</em>, April 2015, Vol. 70, No. 4.

Al Asher & Sons Inc., www.alasher.com American Augers, www.trencor.com American Pipeline Contractors Assn., www.americanpipeline.org Applied Felts Inc., www.appliedfelts.com Arntzen Corp., www.arntzenrolling.com Avanti International, www.avantigrout.com Bit Brokers, www.bitbrokers.com BITCO Insurance Companies BKW Inc., www.bkwinc.com BlueGreen Municipal Solutions, www.southerntrnechless.com Caterpillar Inc. (CATBC), www.cat.com Ditch Witch, www.ditchwitch.com E&M Supply Group, www.drillpipesupply.com

On Dec. 11, 2014, a ribbon cutting ceremony took place at the Green River Golf Club in Corona, CA.

McElroy, which manufacturers an extensive line of thermoplastic fusion machines used worldwide, has opened an office and demonstration facility in Bangalore, India, devoted to sales, rentals and technical service.

Henkels & McCoy (H&M) has hired several new people to its management team.

LMK Technologies joined the Chicago Innovation Award winners, in New York City on Monday, March 23rd to close the NASDAQ Stock Market, the premier exchange for technology companies.

Wyo-Ben has announced the acquisition of the Thunderstorm line of mud mixing and cleaning systems from Sharewell HDD Drilling Products.

Employees across planning, engineering and program management firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN) celebrated Earth Day 2015 with nation-wide volunteer efforts.

For years, sewer and underground pipe repairs have been the source of homeowner headache.

A gas pipeline that exploded at a sheriff's gun range in Central California, injuring 11 people, had been inspected twice in April for gas leaks, and no leaks were found, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said Sunday.

If you are interested in reducing cross bore risk associated of all types of utilities, this is the best opportunity to get involved.

Save the Date! The UCTA South/Central Texas Chapter will be hosting its first annual fundraising Clay Shoot at the San Antonio Gun Club on Friday, June 5, 2015.

Event to be held April 25, 2015, at Tractor Supply Company in Oak Ridge, NC

Members of the International Pipe Bursting Association, a division of NASSCO, held their annual meeting in January at UCT 2015.

Vac-Tron first took shape in October of 1994 when Don Buckner founded American Manufacturing and Machine, Inc., out of his garage with his son, Donnie Jr. Forged from their desire to “make something better” — the “virtual manufacturing” company relied on subcontractors to build and sell pumper and septic-tank trucks across the U.S.

In February, the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council Americas filed a paper with the Federal Communications Commission that demonstrates how fiber is the fastest, most reliable, resilient and cost-effective way to deliver broadband.

Exports of U.S.-made construction equipment ended 2014 with a 13.2-percent drop compared to 2013, with a total $17.26 billion shipped to global markets.

On Feb. 26 the Federal Communications Commission granted petitions of Chattanooga, TN, and Wilson, NC, giving the municipally-owned broadband providers in those communities the freedom to provide high-speed internet service beyond their city limits.

Plains All American Pipeline L.P. announced plans to construct two new Delaware Basin pipelines and related gathering systems to expand its existing Blacktip station and to construct a 20-inch loop line from Blacktip station to Wink, TX.

Follow utility excavation best practices to help save lives and avoid property damage. That’s the underlying message of a new industry safety awareness and education campaign.

The ASCE Pipelines 2015 steering committee recently announced that the website for Pipelines 2015, scheduled for Aug. 23-26 in Baltimore, is now active.

President Obama used only his third veto on Feb. 24 to halt a bill that would force construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

An underground pipeline or utility line is damaged by a digging project once every six minutes in the United States.

Surveying members of the Construction Personnel Executives Group, FMI reports: “24 percent of respondents will be unable to bid more work and 32 percent will experience slow growth if their companies cannot reasonably meet the need for skilled labor and tradespeople.”

The Ditch Witch organization introduces the FXT60 truck vacuum excavator, an exceptionally versatile machine with the power to perform a wide variety of cleanup tasks, even in difficult-to-access locations.

Known for its lines of concrete drilling and doweling equipment, E-Z Drill offers a vertical drill tailored to gas utility companies.

The Montabert V1800 and V2500 Evolution hydraulic breakers feature an automatic two-speed variation system – adjusting their impact energy and striking rate to deliver high energy per blow on hard ground and high frequency on soft ground.

The Cordless Duct Slitter is powered by a Makita 12V lithium-ion battery, and is engineered to cut slits at precise depths on conduits, ducts and innerducts.

The compact Grundodrill 4X is designed for residential service, small diameter water main installations, last mile operations, and gas pipeline applications, offering 9,800 lbs. of thrust and pullback.

POLIFAN CURVE is a flap disc designed for grinding fillet welds.

Doosan has released the wedge lock coupler for use with the company’s 6- to 53-metric-ton crawler excavators.

HammerHead has introduced four new tools to its pneumatic piercing line.

McLaughlin has introduced the VX30-300, a vacuum excavator that is compact in size but with features typically found only on larger machines.

Pure Technologies Ltd. announced that it has closed its previously announced acquisition of Wachs Valve and Hydrant Services LLC, a leading provider of flow control maintenance and support, leak detection, and related asset management services to the water sector in the U.S.

The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, or Pennvest, approved $3.7 million in grant funding and a $386,071 low-interest loan to help the authority replace 10,850 linear feet of water distribution mains, 125 water service lines, 70 gate valves, 22 fire hydrants, rehabilitation of their 300,000 gallon finished water storage tank and incidental treatment and distribution equipment needed for maintenance and leak detection.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) - Congressman Brian Higgins is headed to Washington on a mission. He’s presenting Congress with new legislation aimed at improving water infrastructure.

Advanced Rehabilitation Technology of Bryan, OH, was named the 2015 Ohio Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Entrepreneurship award winner, April 14 at the Capitol Theater in downtown Columbus.

Avanti International announced that Britt N. Babcock, P.E., has been appointed vice president of sales to further develop a growing portfolio of customers and partners nationwide.

SAK Construction LLC has begun work on a $9.2 million contract to rehabilitate 5,575 linear feet of aging combined sewer in downtown St. Louis, MO.

A resin calculator, technical data sheets and overviews on carrier materials, such as liner and hat profile types or fiber glass mats are included on the new ‘Site Guide’ app from Trelleborg‘s pipe seal operation.

Quadex, a leading provider of protective coating and lining materials to the wastewater infrastructure market, is launching a rebranding campaign associated with its strategic expansion of products and services.

ConBlock MIC antimicrobial additive/coating is ideal for concrete and cementitious products.

With DigiSewer side-scanning, you capture footage at speeds up to 70 feet/minute without stopping to pan, tilt or zoom.

Logiball’s long experience in the plug manufacturing has been extremely helpful in designing multisize Sleeve Installers.

On the heels of the successful launch of the MPlus+ Lateral and Mini-Mainline Push System, CUES has released the new MPlus+ XL with pan and tilt (P&T) capabilities which offers the most flexible and feature packed mini-mainline push systems on the market.

Five years ago when the federal government announced its intent to designate styrene as a “possible” cause of cancer in humans, makers and sellers of a wide range of products containing styrene were seriously concerned, including those in the sanitary sewer rehabilitation industry.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Underground Construction Technology International Conference & Exhibition and the 14th year for the RehabZone, the popular “show within a show” at UCT which offers objective, “no-sell” information about the rapidly-growing pipeline rehabilitation industry.

Frank O. Welch, president of Rockford Corporation, was elected Pipe Line Contractors Association president at the group’s recent annual meeting at the Park Hyatt Aviara in Carlsbad, CA.

The One-Call system is the starting point for preventing accidentally damage to underground utilities.

Another year, another convention, another record – that has become the pattern for the high-growth and extremely active National Association of Sewer Service Companies (NASSCO).

Rod Thornhill, P.E., president of White Rock Consultants, Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX, is the 2015 recipient of the Underground Construction Technology Association (UCTA)/Underground Construction magazine’s Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award.

Congested, crammed, jam-packed, overcrowded, teeming: all these words seem to describe the current underground infrastructure.

<em><strong><em>EDITOR’S NOTE:</strong> The Distribution Contractors Association has taken the initiative to address cross bore issues as they relate to the underground construction community. The DCA Government Relations Committee, co-chaired by Greg Dahl of ARB and Dave Wizniewski of Vermeer, led the effort to create a position paper on this safety issue of critical importance not only to the gas distribution industry, but all aspects of underground work.</em></em>

The Cross Bore Safety Association (CBSA) is preparing a report titled <em>Leading Practices for Cross Bore Safety</em> to address underground utility crossbores, a continuing issue that affects utility providers, contractors and the general public.

Brownsville, on the southernmost tip of Texas and the northern bank of the Rio Grande, is across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

<strong>LMK Technologies</strong> LMK’s T-Liner is a one-piece homogenous main and lateral CIPP connection liner that is ASTM F2561 compliant. Both the mainline and lateral sections are formed as a structural cylinder that renews 18-inches and 360 degrees of the mainline and extends up the lateral pipe as one continuous lining with uniform wall thickness. T-Liner with Insignia compression gasket-sealing technology between the host pipe and the T-Liner provides a verifiable non-leaking system. 815.433.1275, http://www.lmktechnologies.com/t-liner <strong>National Liner</strong>

Trench shoring products by Efficiency Production, Pro-Tec Equipment, GME, ICON Equipment and Kundel.

Reduced/zero tail swing excavators by Case, Bobcat, John Deere Construction, Doosan, Hitachi, Caterpillar, Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas and Volvo.

The April issue of <em>Underground Construction</em> has devoted several pages of information regarding the rather frightening history of pipe installations unwittingly intersecting existing pipe, commonly referred to as “crossbores.”

Major gas producers are opposing an initiative by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to allow interstate gas transmission companies to use what are called "trackers" to raise revenue for infrastructure projects which respond to federal environmental and safety requirements.