June 2021 Vol. 76 No. 6

Features

Profiles in Underground Construction

75th Anniversary

Hunting Trenchless 

THEN 

• Founded in 1972 by Calvin and Huey Olivier, as Iberia Machine Shop, located in the heart of New Iberia, La., and specialized in machining oilfield accessories.
• A few years later, the Olivier’s purchased their first Mazak CNC lathe, allowing them to enter OCTG pipe repair and keep up with the demand for their quality products.
• In 1982, the company expanded to a new, larger location in Broussard, La.

 

• The early ‘90s welcomed the merger of Iberia Machine Shop and another joint venture of the Olivier’s; the combined company was officially named Iberia Threading Inc.
• In 2000, the company was purchased by Hunting Energy Services.

NOW 

• Operates as the Trenchless Division of Hunting Energy Services.
• While best known as a drill pipe manufacturer, Hunting Trenchless expanded its product line to include HDD (horizontal directional drilling) tooling and accessories – from drive chucks and quick connects, to mud motors and rock tooling.
• Manufacturing facility now occupies 30 acres in Broussard.
• Currently has more than 100 dealers worldwide, across five continents.
• With the motto, “Total Customer Satisfaction,” Hunting Trenchless remains the trusted source for the highest-quality HDD products on the market.

MILESTONES 

• Using its oilfield expertise, in the early 1990s, Iberia Threading created a solution to a neighboring business’s need for a specific size and thread of HDD drill stem: 50 rods of one-piece, forged drill pipe, the first of its kind in the HDD market and now the industry standard.
• Word of its precision and durability spread, and Iberia Threading quickly forged a partnership with a well-known OEM of drilling rigs to design and manufacture drill stem for it, exclusively.
• When that OEM contract expired, in 2008, Hunting Trenchless established its own worldwide distribution channel.
• Despite the business changing hands, the company has retained over 25 percent of its original employees. With over 160 years of collective in-field sales and service experience, a loyal team is the backbone of Hunting Trenchless, enabling its commitment to quality and continuous improvement over the years.

CONNECTIONS 

• Hunting Trenchless has enjoyed partnering with Underground Construction for its advertising over the years and appreciates its commitment to promoting the HDD industry.
• Congratulations on 75 years from everyone at Hunting Trenchless.

 

Michels Corporation 

THEN 

• Founded in 1959, as family-owned and -operated Michels Pipeline Construction, in Brownsville, Wisc., by Dale Michels.
• Started as a gas pipeline contractor, providing construction and installation of natural gas distribution systems to Wisconsin utilities.
• Following Dale’s passing in 1978, his eldest son, Pat, was named president.

NOW 

• Today, Michels Corporation is an international energy and infrastructure contractor with more than 8,000 employees and more than 40 offices from coast to coast, including three in Canada.
• Michels and the Michels family of companies own more than 14,000 pieces of heavy construction equipment and self-performs most of its work. 

• Michels remains owned and operated by the Michels family, with second and third generations actively involved.
• One of the largest, most diversified contractors in North America, Michels is a leader in energy and infrastructure construction.

MILESTONES 

• After its founding, the company quickly expanded into other markets. In fact, one of the first projects was to install a telecommunications network.
• In 2001, Michels Pipeline Construction changed its name to Michels Corporation to reflect the breadth of services and capabilities.

CONNECTIONS 

• Underground Connection has allowed Michels to share information about its many services and projects through advertising and editorial opportunities.

  

TT Technologies 

THEN 

• Founded in the early 1990s, in Aurora, Ill., by Chris Brahler.
• In the early years, the major product offering came in the form of the Grundomat piercing tool for horizontal boring, a tool that has been operating worldwide for over 60 years. The piercing tool is one of the oldest forms of trenchless technology and has led to the development of other trenchless methods including pipe bursting and pipe ramming.
• Early markets for piercing tools are very much the same today as they were decades ago, contractors, municipalities and utility companies looking to install underground utilities, while reducing the amount of surface disruption and ultimately restoration efforts at the completion of a project. It’s typically installing new for expansion of service or replacing aging infrastructure for increased capacity or integrity.

NOW 

• Providing trenchless equipment solutions to the North American market for over 30 years, TT Technologies has a nationwide network of regional customer service offices and distribution locations.

 

• Chris Brahler is president and CEO, as he has been since founding the company.

• TT Technologies trenchless equipment is used in almost every segment of the utility industry, including water, sewer, gas, electric and fiber optic.
• Full line includes: Grundomat piercing tools, Grundocrack and Grundoburst pipe bursting systems, Grundoram pipe ramming tools and accessories, Grundodrill compact directional drills, Grundomudd bentonite mixing and delivery systems, Grundowinch constant tension winches and Grundopit mini-directional drills.

MILESTONES 

Company’s growth and expansion parallels the milestones it has been instrumental in helping achieve in the trenchless industry: 

• Early acceptance and growth of the piercing tool market
• Establishment of pneumatic pipe bursting for sanitary sewer market
• Pneumatic pipe ramming for large-diameter casings up to 147-inch diameter
• Development of HDD Assist methods with pipe ramming tools
• Introduction of static pipe bursting equipment to North America
• Creation of pit-launched and compact directional drills
• Development of effective pipe splitting tools for the gas industry

CONNECTIONS 

• Underground Construction magazine and UCT have played a critical role in the promotion, education and growth of trenchless technology and the trenchless marketplace.
• Both the magazine and the show have been outstanding platforms for the exchange of ideas and sharing of successes and challenges in the trenchless industry.

At UCT in the late 1990s, products exhibited by TT Technologies were similar, other than some improvements in inner seals and the like, as they are today – except a change in color, to blue. Also, Chris Brahler, founder, president and CEO, was a presenter during the educational program.  

 

Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa (PLCOT) 

THEN 

• Formed in 1947 by a small group of pipeline executives.
• At that time, Tulsa was known as the Oil Capital of the World. These executives recognized the need for ongoing technical training in pipeline installation and maintenance technologies.
• Held regular meetings, with technical presentations, at the Petroleum Club of Tulsa.

 

• Created a scholarship program in 1955; the first award was given to a student at the University of Tulsa studying in the Petroleum Sciences and Engineering program.
• By mid-1960s, membership had grown considerably, and the group drafted its first Articles of Incorporation.

NOW 

• PLCOT consists of more than 600 members and over $150,000 is awarded annually to qualified college students.
• Officers representing the 75th Anniversary year are:

President: Terry Flynn, Tulsa Rig Iron 

Vice President: Shawn Lowman, Pipeline Equipment Solutions 

Treasurer: Dustin Detherow, Williams 

Secretary: Renato Sanchez, PL-Enerserv 

MILESTONES 

• Through the years, added various networking and fundraising events, which increased scholarship funds dramatically.
• Now offers, on an annual basis, two golf tournaments, two sporting clay tournaments, a fishing tournament, and various family-oriented gatherings, as well as the monthly technical meetings.
• Net proceeds of all events go to the scholarship fund.

CONNECTIONS 

As we enter our 75th Anniversary year, PLCOT members congratulate Underground Construction magazine on 75 wonderful years! 

 

Tulsa Rig Iron 

THEN 

• In the early 1970s, JD Young owned Triangle Supply in Louisiana, which supplied pumps to the offshore oil & gas market.
• JD Young was instrumental in the early development of HDD equipment technology. When the HDD process started gaining traction, in 1987,
  he relocated to Kiefer, Okla., just outside of Tulsa – where most emerging larger HDD contractors were located – and opened Tulsa Rig Iron.

 

•  Originally consisting of several divisions, TRI provided many products and services for the HDD market.
• Early product/services designs were packaged mud recycling systems, and triplex mud pumps; evolved to include the manufacture of mini
  thru maxi HDD drill rigs.
• In 2004, Young passed away unexpectedly. Sons Trevor and Troy stepped up at that time as president and vice president, respectively.
• After a complete business analysis, the company decided to shutter the outlying divisions and focus its vision solely on designing and manufacturing world-class mud-cleaning systems and triplex mud pumps.

NOW 

• The company is a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility supplying products around the globe.
• In addition to the core HDD products, offerings now include other pumping solutions for the pipeline market, such as hydrostatic test pump packages.

MILESTONES 

• In late 2013, the company finished a huge expansion of its facility, which doubled its manufacturing capacity and allowed for an efficient and effective production line.
• The facility is situated on 40 acres in Kiefer, Okla.

CONNECTIONS 

• Underground Construction and its sister publications have played a vital role over the years in publicizing the company’s products through advertising and editorial content.
• From everyone at Tulsa Rig Iron, congratulations to the staff at Underground Construction on 75 successful years!

 

Vermeer Corporation 

THEN 

• Innovator and farmer Gary Vermeer invented the wagon hoist in 1943; fellow farmers requested their own.
• In 1948, he founded Vermeer Manufacturing Company, a one-man job shop in central Iowa, to meet the need.
• In the 1960s, Vermeer trenchers grew beyond the farm. To support suburban growth in the U.S., Vermeer introduced a full line of trenchers to efficiently place utilities like electricity, water, and sewer underground.

NOW 

• Vermeer Corporation, headquartered in Pella, Iowa, is market-changing powerhouse recognized around the world.
• Offers a complete lineup of high-quality utility installation equipment, including horizontal directional drills, trenchers, rockwheels, plows, vacuum excavators, mini skid steers, pile drivers for the rapidly expanding solar industry, and a wide range of HDD tooling and accessories.
• Utility installation is critical to community development. It requires working in the most rural, remote areas; the most congested, populous cities; and a range of ground conditions – from hard rock to clay and cobble.
• Company’s global presence impacts progress in more than 60 countries – from Pella, Iowa, USA, to the Asia Pacific region, to dots on the map in between.
• Every job site is unique, and Vermeer’s more than 3,500 team members, located at manufacturing facilities and regional offices around the world, help provide customers with the products, services and support needed to get tough work done.
• Second and third generations of the Vermeer family are carrying the legacy of innovation, continuous improvement, and the ultimate goal to equip its customers, its people and our world to do more.

MILESTONES 

• Invented the first stump cutter in the 1950s.
• In the 1960s, introduced a full line of trenchers.
• First to commercialize the round hay baler, in the 1970s, changing the hay industry forever.
• Introduced its first horizontal directional drill, in the 1990s, helping support the dot-com boom.
• In the early 2000s, launched the Terrain Leveler surface excavation machine.
• In the 2010s, Vermeer grew on a global scale by opening manufacturing plants in Singapore and Goes, The Netherlands, in the 2010s.
• In the 2020s, acquired electric HDD technology that will first launch in Europe.

CONNECTIONS 

• From introducing the first Vermeer HDD model, customer job stories and covering major company milestones, the Underground Construction editorial team has shared it all.
• Robert Carpenter joined us in 1998 for our 50th-anniversary celebration and the opening of the Vermeer Global Pavilion. He was also there to witness the aftermath of the devastating tornado that struck while celebrating our 70th anniversary.
• Everyone at Underground Construction has always supported our team, our customers and our industry.

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