February 2026 Vol. 81 No. 2
Editor's Log
2026 Underground Infrastructure Conference overcomes winter storm disruptions
By Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief
(UI) — The 2026 Underground Infrastructure Conference (UIC) started out dueling with disaster from extreme weather, yet concluded with unexpected success and tremendous positives. Sounds like a paradox, right? Well, in truth, it was.
If you remember back to the end of January, an unusual and powerful winter storm system wreaked havoc from the Midwest through Texas, swept through the Southeast up to the Atlantic Coast and finally the Northeast. This polar vortex, combined with a moisture-bearing low pressure coming in across Mexico and another moving up from the Gulf of Mexico, created precipitous amounts of snow and ice across two-thirds of the country.
Much of the nation’s transportation systems, such as highways and airports, were literally closed. It just so happened Nature chose the precise weekend before UIC to unleash the winter beast, totally disrupting travel throughout the U.S.
Fortunately, travel across far south Texas, including Beaumont to Houston to San Antonio, was relatively safe and ice/snow-free, although temperatures still dipped into night-time teens and strong winds kept chill factors high. For those from South Texas, it was an unwanted reminder of winter weather further north while we typically “suffer” through a couple of weeks of temperatures in the 50s and 60s.
As we got within a few days of UIC, the calls, texts and emails began slowly then “snowballed,” generally inquiring about weather questions and more pointedly the travel situation – which we couldn’t answer. All we knew for certain was that it was going to get very cold, but San Antonio would probably not receive much moisture. Roads were fine from Houston to El Paso, and south of Austin to San Antonio, but Dallas was in the throes of ice build-ups on its roads.
On the Friday before the show activities were due to begin on Monday morning, the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio confirmed it would be open. Subsequently, the countdown to UIC proceeded.
I drove over to San Antonio on Sunday in bitter temperatures, but the drive was fine. As it turned out, others from around the country were steadily making their way into the city, as well.
We were thrilled to learn that the road going north to Austin was now relatively clear. Dr. Tom Iseley had driven down from Purdue University in Indiana, making it all the way to Little Rock, Ark., on Saturday night before being forced to stop for the night. He and his travel partner rose early on Sunday, carefully driving across Texas before hitting reasonably clear sailing south of Austin into the Alamo City. Tom was literally driven by the need to make it to UIC to conduct the week-long BAMI-I & UESI Utility Investigation School, along with holding the BAMI-I Board of Directors meeting. Mission accomplished.
On Monday morning, I (and everybody else) was bundled up like Nanook of the North as we walked (shivering all the way) from hotels to the Convention Center (which fortunately had a good heater). Entering the Exhibit Hall, I was relieved to see a near-normal beehive of activity as exhibitors kept rolling into the hall and began set-up.
The NASTT Board of Directors meeting kicked off bright and early on schedule, as most of its members successfully navigated the hazardous weather challenges to make their meeting. And there was Dr. Iseley holding the Utility Investigation School as planned. Throughout the day, people continued to trickle into San Antonio – I was encouraged that we might just pull this thing off.
Sure enough, Tuesday morning saw the sun emerge across the state and temperatures slowly began to climb back to habitable levels. Predictably, we had a lot of attendees and a few exhibitors who were unable to make the trip to San Antonio. But as we started the educational program at 8 a.m., all sessions had attendees that steadily climbed in number throughout the morning, eventually turning downright crowded (the keynote was standing-room-only).
To top off the first day of UIC’s morning, The Awards luncheon, a combination of the renowned Most Valuable Professional award and Underground Infrastructure’s industry awards for outstanding projects, technology and asset management, was sold out.
Then the Exhibit Hall and its plethora of new and old activities rolled along like clockwork with exhibitors reporting good client interaction and activity. The day wrapped up with a packed-house party on the Riverwalk hosted by the South Texas Chapter of the Underground Construction Technology Association.
The second day of UIC picked up right where Day One had ended. We essentially had a second wave of people hit the show as roads had been cleared from North Texas and more airports were back on schedule allowing people to roll in.
The day wrapped up with the annual HDD Reunion that honored a new class into the HDD Hall of Fame. The event is sponsored by the Horizontal Directional Drilling Association along with UI. To my shock and awe, I was voted into the Hall of Fame. A huge honor, no doubt. Still, I’ve launched an investigation to figure out how the HDDA conspired with my staff to keep me out of the loop.
Of course, the weather definitely impacted our attendance substantially, but as one exhibitor told me: “all things considered, we’re very happy with the attendance and particularly the quality – it’s been a great show for us.”
And now, we’re already planning the 2027 show. We’re excited to announce that it will be held in Grapevine, Texas, at the famous Gaylord Texan, an amazing, modern-day arcology – perfect for UIC. Our various partners and friends in North Texas have pledged sunshine and 70 degrees to make up for this year’s cold snap …
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