February 2021 Vol. 76 No. 2

Robert Carpenter | Editor-in-Chief  Even as we were completing a successful Underground Construction Technology International Conference & Exhibition (UCT) in late January 2020, the world was learning about a looming health c..

Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Opponents Sue to Shut Down Minnesota Construction  Opponents of a pipeline project that crosses three states have asked a federal court to halt construction in Minnesota on allegations that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to address several environmental issues when..

By Stephen Barlas, Washington Editor With environmentally friendly, Democratic agency heads taking over U.S. regulatory and independent agencies under the ascension of President Joe Biden, interstate gas pipelines face a host of newly emboldened, top-level appointees.  Many of them are gas pipelin..

Underground Construction’s first incarnation as the “Pipeliner” continued with booming growth throughout its first full decade of publishing – the 1950s. By the end of the decade, the magazine had broadened its coverage of underground infrastructure and was renamed Pipeline Construction and Oliver K..

Charge  THEN  Founded 2006, in Benicia, Calif., as Accu-Bore, by Billy Kilmer, Jr.; in 2009, Mike Robirds, P.E. joined as an owner. Initially performed horizontal directional drilling throughout California for public an..

1951  International Harvester (Chicago) and Superior Equipment (Bucyrus, Ohio) used pipebooms to slide 800-foot sections of 22-inch pipe on project bringing Canadian oil to market through the swamps of Minnesota    1952  With the shortage of steel pipe, due to a high volume of projects, exacerba..

By Stephen Barlas, Washington Editor Last December, just a month before Joe Biden became president of the United States on Jan. 21, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the lead and copper rule revisions that will begin to make themselves felt in 2021, as municipalities undertake maj..

By Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief With 2020 in the rearview mirror, most cities are breathing a sigh of relief. The year saw municipalities lose more than $27 billion in tax dollars and user fees, as communities shut down their businesses, manufacturing and other activities due to Covid-19 fears..

By Jeff Griffin, Senior Editor In Kentucky, the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) has undertaken Project WIN (Waterway Improvements Now), a complete sewer improvement program to bring the MSD’s system in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards of th..

By Mike Ancell, Contributing Editor In the strange year that was 2020, PCCA and its members continued their essential work of delivering broadband and power to American homes and businesses throughout the country.  The association held a very successful annual convention in the Bahamas prior to th..

Discovery Hydrovac  discoveryhydrovac.com, (801) 455-4021  Discovery Hydrovac is a specialized hydro and air vacuum service provider that supports the ever-expanding oil, gas, utility and construction industries.  State of ..

Family Business Celebrates Milestone  The Schlachter family of Bryan, Ohio, celebrated the opening of a new, expanded headquarters, housing its three trenchless technology firms involved in the potable water and wastewater industries – and maybe a little more.  It started in 1999, when father and ..

Repairing underground water pipes can be a deadly job. As an industrial accident in 1984 in Idaho illustrated, workers above ground can sometimes be at risk, too.  The Oneida Power Plant disaster claimed the lives of four men when a pipe burst in a power plant. They were knocked unconscious by a su..

Hyundai  hceamericas.com  Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas Inc. has expanded its North American authorized dealer network by adding Whited Equipment Company, a dealership supplying the construction, forestry, aggregate & municipal markets in Maine for more than 30 years.  “Whited is a full..

John Deere Launches Pipelayer-Ready Crawler, Tests Electric Backhoe  Rounding out John Deere’s lineup of pipelayer machines – also including the 850L PL100, 1050K PL170 and 1050K PL220 – the powerful 700L PL40 Crawler, with 4..