March 2017 Vol. 72 No. 3
Features
RehabZone Provides Excellent Pipeline Rehabilitation Education
The RehabZone made a repeat appearance at UCT 2017 in a city – Fort Worth, TX – where the event had never been held.
Sponsors, volunteers who manned RehabZone stations, and the many visitors who went through the “Zone” in the Exhibit Hall agreed it was one of the best ever.
A primary factor in the continuing success of the RehabZone is its “no-selling” approach to providing timely, objective information about pipeline rehabilitation technologies – no other industry event has such a format.
“Fort Worth was an excellent location for us,” said Andy Rothenberg, RehabZone chairperson.
“I expected it would be,” he continued. “There is a lot of business for our industry in Texas, and traffic through the Zone was terrific. Our volunteers did a fantastic job putting it all together. I think everything looked great with an updated, ‘cleaner’ look, and there was some new technology to see and talk about.”
“At the 2017 RehabZone, the traffic flow was very steady, and everyone we talked to found it very informative,” said Heather Myers, operations manager at NASSCO, a primary sponsor of the event. “We were very pleased with the attendance.”
Visitors entered the Zone and found the Historic Sewer and Pipe Artifacts Exhibit, always a high-interest area. They then followed a route past information stations, including the NASSCO Pipeline Assessment Certification Program (PACP) and Inspector Training Certification Program (ITCP), closed circuit television (CCTV), bypass pumping, CIPP lining, joint and seal repairs, water main lining, lateral lining, grouting, root control, manhole linings and coatings, and emerging technologies.
Demos & T-shirts
In the final station of the RehabZone, companies conducted demonstrations or presentations four times on both the first and second days the Exhibit Hall was open, including LMK, Hydra Tite, Perma-Liner, Trio Vision, Avanti International and Primeline Products. Last stop was to pick up the traditional RehabZone T-shirt, which this year marked the event’s 16th anniversary.
Norman Rollo, supervisor II, oversees the customer response, clean and video department for the Mobile, AL, Area Water & Sewer System, and is a regular RehabZone attendee.
“The Zone is very informative regarding things from the past and how things have progressed,” he said. “I enjoy seeing new technologies every year. This year I saw updates about grouting, rapid assessments of manhole inspections and lateral connections – all technologies our city uses. I saw the Avanti grouting demo and Cues manhole scanner.”
Rollo completed the NASSCO PACP training course in late January and is a certified NASSCO PACP, MACP and LACP trainer. “I sat in on training in Fort Worth to learn from other trainers about how these training modules were presented,” he concluded.
Guy Dickes, president of Constellation Group, LLC, Baltimore, MD, said he goes through the RehabZone to see what’s going on in the industry and how underground infrastructure issues are being addressed. The Constellation Group is a consultant to the grouting, geotechnical and structural repair industries.
History
Gus O’Leary, P.E., Cambridge, MA, of the engineering firm Kleinfelder, said he really enjoyed the historical exhibits.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to UCT,” he said, “but with restructuring within the organization, I expect to be attending on a regular basis. I saw a Raven Lining demonstration. I’m aware of the technology, but had never seen it done. Seeing something always is better than just reading or hearing about it. I believe bringing experts together in the RehabZone provides a broad representation of information that works very well.”
Kleinfelder is a leading infrastructure engineering, construction management, design and environmental professional services firm.
Hugh Connell, product manager for BLD Services, LLC, Mobile, AL, said it had been several years since he had been through the RehabZone. “We specialize in sewer lateral rehabilitation,” he said, “and there was a lot of information on that subject. It’s good to see how things change and that we have better tools to do our work now.”
The RehabZone is sponsored by NASSCO (National Association of Sewer Service Companies) in cooperation with the Underground Engineering and Surveying Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Water Environment Federation’s Collection System Committee, and Underground Construction magazine. It is funded by sponsoring organizations and participating industry companies.
“Being responsible for the RehabZone requires many volunteers, and Chairperson Andy Rothenberg, with support of Heather Myers of the NASSCO staff, had it well-organized from set-up through tear-down,” said Lynn Osborn, NASSCO technical director. “With all the displays, demos and presentations, the RehabZone continues to get better every year, and the 2017 version was no different.”
Osborn is an industry veteran who owns LEO Consulting, LLC, as well as serving as NASSCO technical director.
Rothenberg will serve as chairperson of the 2018 RehabZone and said he came away with several ideas to implement next year. Rothenberg is president of Primeline Products.
For more information about the RehabZone or to volunteer, contact NASSCO, www.nassco.org, (410) 442-7788.
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