February 2019 Vol. 74 No. 2

Underground Construction's exclusive annual survey revealed stronger budgets for many cities and growing expectations for a prolonged, stronger economy – but municipal personnel remain cautious.

It's uncertain whether infrastructure legislation will be approved in 2019, but the good news is that any bill will likely include water projects. This was not the case last year, when spending talk centered on roads and bridges instead of water and sewer construction.

Deployment of fiber optic cable directly to homes in North America continues at a steady pace, surpassing DSL in 2018 to become the second-most-common connection for home internet after cable,

The Distribution Contractors Association (DCA) expects to break attendance records again when the organization meets in the Bahamas next month for its 58th Annual Convention.

Underground Construction met with DCA President Jay Osborn to discuss his career success from field to executive suite, his longtime involvement in DCA and his outlook for the contracting industry.

The Power & Communications Contractors Association plans to follow a productive year with a 2019 focus on advocacy, educational initiatives and programs that help its members run more successful businesses.

In its effort to head off a growing shortage of skilled workers, Quanta Services has taken the unusual step of acquiring Northwest Lineman College (NLC).

In California’s San Francisco Bay Area, the Ross Valley Sanitary District faced several challenges on a project to rehabilitate or replace aging sanitary sewer infrastructure.

EDITOR’S LOG Robert Carpenter | Editor-in-Chief Words are essential to my profession so I’m admittedly sensitive. But I sometimes wonder if technology is killing our written and spoken vocabulary? I recently read a report that claimed modern society is u..

CASE Construction Equipment issued the call for entries for the 2019 Dire States Equipment Grant, which provides $25,000 in free equipment use to one winning community to offset the costs of building or repairing local infrastructure or other critical systems. ..

The American Rental Association (ARA) released a new, industry-wide strategic plan that will drive program initiatives over the next three years

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded more than $187.3 million to California for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvements in mid-December 2018. Awarded to the state’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs, these federal funds are supple..

By Stephen Barlas | Washington Editor U.S. Chamber Details Impacts of Pipeline, LNG Opposition   A new U.S. Chamber of Commerce study estimates that at least $91.9 billion in domestic economic activity and nearly 730,000 job opportunities were lost because of environmental opposition to the constr..

Felling Trailers felling.com Felling Trailers Inc. conducted its sixth-annual online auction of an FT-3 drop deck utility trailer to benefit a non-profit organization. The winning bid of $3,400 was placed by Jon Stein, ow..

BOND Bond BOND promoted Anthony “Tony” Bond to president and Kane Cuddy to CEO of the Northeast building, civil, utility and energy construction firm’s civil and utility division. As civil and utility president, Bond (a fifth-gene..

Exact Pipe Tools introduced its latest portable pipe-cutting innovations. PipeCut Air 360 was developed and manufactured in Europe to cut cement-lined cast- and ductile -iron pipe materials for maintenance applications in the water utility market sector. ..

John Deere updated its line of Worksite Pro attachments with three new angle (BA72C, BA84C and BA96C) and five new pickup (BP72C, BP84C, BR60C, BR72C and BR84C) brooms, designed for effortless cleanup in turf, snow and construction applications. Like all Worksite Pro attachments, they are optimized ..

The McElroy DataLogger 6 offers expanded data collection capabilities and new features, and a free software update is now available. Version 1.09 includes built-in options to record fusion information from manually operated m..

Vacall’s new, truck-mounted AllJet provides budget-conscious municipalities and contractors with a highly efficient, easy-to-operate sewer cleaning machine. With standard Vacall “Green That Works” advantages, the AllJet uses ..

Doosan DX63-3 and DX85R-3 excavators provide operators with precise controls, impressive breakout forces and overall enhanced productivity. Both models are designed with a blade float feature, multi-function joysticks and colo..

Perma-Liner Industries LLC is celebrating 20 years in the trenchless pipeline rehabilitation industry, marking a milestone of innovation and perseverance in an ever-changing and growing industry.

By NASSCO Member Michael P. Kerr, NASSCO Training Director   When coding pipe conditions using the Pipeline Assessment Certification Program (PACP®), a well-meaning operator may view a change in water level and call out a Miscellaneous Water Level Sag (MWLS..