August 2023 Vol. 78 No. 8

Archive

Editor's Log

Editor’s Log: Priceless - Safety and damage prevention

(UI) — After attending and helping produce countless trade shows, workshops and related educational functions over the decades, I’ve learned that many of the best sessions were not the most popular sessions – not by a long shot. It’s not always what you want to hear, but what you need to know that has the most impact on your business or job.

Washington Watch

New permitting provisions in budget bill slight natural gas industry

(UI) — The natural gas industry greeted the permitting reform bill Congress passed, and President Biden signed last month with something short of enthusiasm. The permitting provisions in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 had only glancing benefits for gas pipelines and were chiefly written to benefit wind, solar and electric energy deployment.

Features

Hard surface potholing the right way helps a business grow

(UI) — More Florida cities are seeing the advantages of core saws, since McKim & Creed expanded into coring solid surfaces to locate utilities.

Inside infrastructure: Latest ‘WOTUS’ rule upended by Supreme Court

(UI) — Looking at the increasingly high-profile issue of permit reform needed to get important infrastructure projects off the ground, few issues (if any) are as polarizing as the “Waters of the Unites States” (WOTUS) rulemaking.

Asset management: Digging data

(UI) — There are already lots of good reasons for why you should digitally document underground construction jobs, from pre-drill planning to post-drill reporting.

Tech lesson for Silicon Valley

(UI) — Trenchless technology has been one of the most important advancements in the underground construction industry and has changed the way utility contractors approach projects. For a recent sanitary sewer upgrade project in Palo Alto, it was trenchless pipe bursting that was making an impact.

AGA Chair sees future shaped by education, innovation

(UI) — Sitherwood, who plans to retire from Spire this December, sat down with Underground Infrastructure to discuss her career, her outlook for the natural gas industry and her work as the 2023 chair of the American Gas Association (AGA).

Currently at CUIRE – Annual update of research center’s activities

(UI) — Pipe deterioration is a complex process, involving a combination of aging, chemical and environmental factors. Polymeric SAPL is a new application to structurally renew deteriorated gravity and pressure pipelines and can be applied to a wide range of concrete, masonry, corrugated metal, and steel pipelines.

Unveiling the future: Introducing the Underground Infrastructure Conference (UIC)

(UI) — Step into the future of underground infrastructure at the Underground Infrastructure Conference (UIC) in Oklahoma City from Tuesday, March 19 to Thursday, March 21, 2024!

Tech Tips: Force main rehabilitation

(UI) — Force mains, also called rising mains in the United Kingdom, are low pressure pipelines that lift the sewage from one location to another by pumping the sewage under positive pressure.

Rehab News

First aqueduct water pipeline rehabilitated with geopolymer for SDCWA

(UI) — When the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) inspected its First Aqueduct water conveyance system in Valley Center, engineers identified that rehabilitation was required. Groundwater was infiltrating three tunnels within the system and rehabilitation was required to maintain the tunnels’ structural integrity and extend their service life.

Business

LAN, Houston Public Works project earns state-wide recognition

Houston Public Works (HPW), Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam Inc. (LAN), and Harper Brothers Construction LLC (HBC) received the Texas Chapter of the American Public Works Association (TX-APWA) 2023 Project of the Year Award for Environment, $25-to-$75 million category, for the SWTP 72-inch Water Line   from Emancipation to Tuam.

Newsline

Newsline

Chemical manufacturer 3M Co. will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of many U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and a host of consumer products, the company said.