April 2017 Vol. 72 No. 4

Longtime Industry Servant Recognized By UCTA, Underground Construction Gerhard (Gerry) Muenchmeyer, P.E., was honored as the underground construction and rehabilitation industry’s Most Valuable Professional. The award is jointly presented annually by the Underground Construction Technology Associat..

By Gerhard “Gerry” P. Muenchmeyer, PE Muenchmeyer Associates LLC Editor’s Note: This is the first in an occasional series of articles discussing long-term performance needs, capabilities and requirements of various rehabilitation technologies. For almost 40 years, the trenchless rehabilitation ind..

The recent expansion and rehabilitation of the city of Greenville, SC, sanitary sewer system was the first time the utility department undertook the total design and construction of such a project. By doing so, the overall costs were reduced by more than 50 percent, and the project was completed on ..

The Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada (PLCAC) and its members generally had a good, solid year in 2016, believes the association’s President Neil K. Waugh. The PLCAC represents pipeline contractor members in labor relations with the four craft unions (whose members are involved in pipelin..

The city of Fort Worth, TX, and Atmos Energy, the area’s gas service provider, are taking a proactive approach to address possible crossbores in the city’s sanitary sewer pipes. Crossbores – an intersection of two or more underground utilities – is an ongoing concern of municipalities across the co..

Whether you are a professional excavator, contractor, engineer or utility owner, you play an important role in keeping people safe with every dig. Laws governing excavation vary by state, and they can be confusing. Answering the question, “Do I have to call 811?” can be difficult if you don’t unders..

by Daniel Bigman, Ph.D. Damage prevention plays a vital role in underground construction. Identifying existing buried services prior to installing new ones is critical to maintaining site safety and limiting project costs. There are various technologies that assist in detecting and marking buried f..

EDITOR’S NOTE: The past 25 years has seen many changes in the underground utilities universe. Technology advances, regulatory activity and environmental requirements have dictated major alterations in the way companies are managed. Rating as one of the foremost changes is the evolution of the busine..

G2 Integrated Solutions has hired Monique Roberts to serve as vice president sales for the South and Gulf Coast P&L divisions. In this role she will build and develop the company’s client base and contacts. Her expertise comes from years of sales, delivery and senior management positions with oil a..

Federal Signal announced a reorganization of its Environmental Solutions Group (ESG), a leading provider of street sweepers, industrial vacuum trucks, high-performance water-blasting equipment, sewer cleaners and vacuum excavators for commercial, municipal and industrial customers. Tony Fuller, dir..

American Polywater’s (APW) GrandSlam Pipe Joint Lubricant solves the common problems associated with other pipe joint lubricants. It is an odor-free, easy-to-apply, soft paste material that is subaqueous and clings to both wet and dry surfaces on concrete, ductile iron and plastic pipes. It doesn’t ..

Planning, engineering and program management firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. (LAN) made two key additions to its stormwater group in Houston, TX. Burton Johnson, P.E., CFM, serves as the director of stormwater programs. A water resources planner and civil engineer, Johnson has more than 28 yea..

Perma-Liner’s Main Lining System for municipal main line sanitary sewers is engineered and manufactured to meet project specifications on an individual basis. The cured-in-place felt liners are produced with different thicknesses to meet the varying pipe diameters and sizes of municipal city lines. ..

CIPP Corp.’s H2O Potable Water Liner fixes drinking water lines without expensive repairs or services disruptions – making renewal fast and affordable. This liner is NSF/ANSI 61/BNQ Certified and meets ASTM F1216 standards. When drinking water lines need attention, our H2O liner offers a highly vers..

Insituform is a leading worldwide provider of municipal wastewater and pressure trenchless cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) rehabilitation technologies. Cost-effective solutions remediate problems resulting from aging and deteriorating pipelines, while avoiding the extraordinary expense and extreme disrup..

Inliner Technologies, a leader in cured-in-place pipe, now offers an ultraviolet light cured product to complement its traditional hot water- and steam-cured CIPP. The UV product, Inliner STX, utilizes a reinforced liner and alternative catalyst system, and benefits from Inliner’s 25 years of integr..

The Tite Liner system is ideal for the renewal of distribution and pressure mains. Its installation cuts down on digging and disruption, while helping water companies and municipalities extend the life of their existing infrastructure. The continuous HDPE liner is installed with a close fit against ..

Through its network of experienced North American installers, National Liner provides cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) products and services to municipal and industrial customers for rehabilitating deteriorated pipe. Our products have been installed in more than 18 million liner feet of pipe ranging in di..

Fibrwrap Construction specializes in trenchless structural strengthening of underground pipelines over 30-inches utilizing the advanced Tyfo Fibrwrap carbon fiber system. With more than 20 years of experience, Fibrwrap has the knowledge and expertise to meet pipeline strengthening needs, and has per..

Primarily an installation method for fiber networks, micro trenching involves cutting a narrow and relatively shallow trench, usually on an asphalt roadway. During the process, a vacuum system connected to the cutter wheel cleanly diverts and transports debris away from the worksite. Once the condui..

Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. (ADS), a leading global manufacturer of water management solutions, has introduced HPXR 75, the latest breakthrough in stormwater pipe technology. The revolutionary design incorporates a corrugated polypropylene pipe with a smooth outer wall and oriented fiberglass re..

Vermeer has bolstered its industry-leading line of HDD tooling and accessories with an additional drill rod. Building on the tradition of the acclaimed Firestick, the new Silver Series drill rod gives contractors a quality aftermarket drill rod at an economic price. Like other lower-tier options on..

IPEG Corporation, a Naples, FL-based developer of mobile products and locate equipment for the telecommunications, pipeline and utility industries, has launched its UTTO Virtual Reality Training Studio. This latest line extension of UTTO’s buried asset digital services creates an immersive, real-wor..

In continuing efforts to offer more value to its customers, Felling Trailers Inc. has announced enhancements to two product lines. Several features are now standard on the Pan Series, known for offering one of the lowest load angles for a ramp trailer in the industry: increased ramp width (from 14 ..

Capable of working around congested job sites in efficient fashion, the updated John Deere 75G and 85G excavators boast new customer-inspired features. These include hand-controlled proportional auxiliary hydraulics and the ability to be equipped with a hydraulic coupler that allows the machines to ..

President Trump’s intention to drastically cut the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other departments and agencies, could have a major impact on the agency’s two key water infrastructure programs, the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs). Early leaks of..

The Pipe Line Contractors Association (PLCA) 69th Annual Convention was held at the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale, AZ, with 584 attendees. Many past presidents and honorary members attended the convention, and elected officers for 2017 were announced. Robert C. Osborn, senior vice president of the Pi..

The 62nd annual Appalachian Underground Corrosion Short Course (AUCSC 2017) will take place May 9-11, in Morgantown, WV. AUCSC offers more than 100 hours of multi-level technical training on the causes and prevention of corrosion on underground structures. Licensed professional engineers may earn p..

Volvo Construction Equipment celebrated 50 years of articulated hauler production by creating a special edition “gold hauler” and touring it across North America during 2016. The gold hauler is identical to the company’s standard A40G, 40-ton model, except for its unique, $15,000 paint job. While t..

by Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief I’ve been waiting patiently. Listening intently, viewing all the footage, reading the reports and still I’m not seeing it. There has been virtually no mention of underground infrastructure in any of the coverage and discussions of the pending infrastructure stim..