September 2021 Vol. 76 No. 9

The pursuit of increased infrastructure spending received new hope recently when the political impasse in the U.S. House of Representatives was temporarily bypassed. A working compromise within the Democratic Party allowed a vote on the divisive and partisan $3.5-billion reconciliation spending bill..

NTSB: Crew Safety Failure Led to San Francisco Natural Gas Fire  An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that an excavation crew from Kilford Engineering Inc. failed to follow safety procedures which led to a 2019 natural gas release and fire in San Francisco...

By Stephen Barlas, Washington D.C. Editor The Senate infrastructure legislation provides major funding boosts to the drinking water and clean water state revolving funds (DWSRF/CWSRF), but congressional passage of the bill depends, apparently, on whether Congress also passes a second, $3.5-trillion..

A handful of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) specialists had failed to complete a scheduled installation of fiber optics in a Greenville, S.C., project that was now more than a year overdue. Bore-path complications included two heavily vegetated ravines, a road, two restrictive railroad right-..

Underground Construction magazine’s Underground Construction Technology International Conference & Exhibition (UCT) returns to Fort Worth, Texas., Tuesday, Jan. 25 through Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Known for being the first major business event of the year for the underground utility infrastructure i..

By Dr. John Matthews, Trenchless Technology Center Director The Trenchless Technology Center (TTC) at Louisiana Tech University has once again had an active year of research, training and growth. Its Industry Advisory Board (IAB) continued to meet its mission to advance trenchless technology by ser..

Billed as the utility industry’s largest trade show for utilities and utility contractors, The Utility Expo (formerly known as ICUEE) will be held Sept. 28–30 in Louisville, Ky. The biennial trade show, known for equipment test drives and interactive product demonstrations, has been reimagined with ..

By Dr. Lawrence M. Slavin A new set of guidelines for the use of mini-horizontal directional drilling (mini-HDD) has been developed by the Municipal Advisory Board (MAB) of the Plastics Pipe Institute (http://plasticpipe.org).  Previously available as Technical Report TR-46, the new document, MAB ..

Akkerman  akkerman.com  Akkerman’s new website was designed and developed to best serve clients by being multi device-friendly, faster and easier to use.  Specifically, it benefits customers in five ways:  Engineers can use it as a guide to help determine suitable trenchless methods. Existi..

Super Products  Randy Buening was promoted from vice president of rentals to president of Super Products LLC, which manufactures, sells and rents vacuum trucks He succeeds Mike Vanden Heuvel, who retired after 13 years in tha..

Vortex Companies Acquires Fleer-Tech GmbH  As part of its European expansion strategy, the Vortex Companies has completed the acquisition of Fleer-Tech GmbH (Fleer-Tech), a Germany-based sewer rehabilitation contractor.  Based in Lehrte, Germany, and founded in 2001, Fleer-Tech has built a reputat..

Xylem Unveils Breakthrough Dewatering Pump  Global water technology company, Xylem, unveiled Flygt Biboα – a breakthrough dewatering pump.  Applying Decision Intelligence, Flygt Biboα automatically adapts to its environment and only operates when needed, delivering energy savings of up to 60 perce..