Webcasts

Sponsors: American Augers, Ditch Witch, Subsite Electronics and Trencor

With record-setting Federal monies now available for municipal, telecom and electric markets, underground infrastructure appears to have a very bright future not only for 2022, but for several years ahead.

Yet challenges and evolving market dynamics will also play a key role. Construction challenges such as disruption of the supply chain and worker shortages plague markets as they gear up for a busy 2022. Will the merger and acquisition market be active again? Will the latest Covid-19 variant, Omicron (highly contagious but lacking the bite of previous iterations) be only a brief market disruption? 

Political winds continue to gust in all directions as North American markets adjust to changes. What happens next with the U.S. economy is still a big question for construction markets. How will soaring inflation impact construction and rehabilitation efforts?

This presentation, led by FMI Managing Director Daniel Shumate, will include perspectives gathered from FMI’s networks of industry’s CEOs, owners and economists to convey impacts, outlooks and market updates. 

Opportunities clearly abound in 2022 but navigating through the rapidly-changing sea can be a rough ride if you’re not prepared. Don’t miss this highly informative and beneficial webinar!

Sponsor: Melfred Borzall

Are you new to the HDD Industry or have new employees that could benefit from a training on the fundamentals of HDD operations and tooling? In this webinar, HDD’s Founding Father Dick Melsheimer will teach with his son, Peter Melsheimer, the following:

• Fundamentals of HDD drilling technology
• Drill rig + tooling selection (and why it matters)
• Working with varying ground conditions
• Mistakes to avoid during a pilot bore
• Selecting and sizing the right backreamer
• Safety in HDD

All attendees will get a free gift at the end of the webinar!

Sponsor: Ditch Witch

Ditch Witch’s Cory Maker will be joined by Steve Sellenriek, President of Sellenriek Construction and Cole Shaefer, State Technical College of Missouri, Department Chair and Technical Instructor. This panel will discuss the need for qualified operators, how this project got started, how it’s going and where it’s headed. In short, a manufacturer, a contractor and a college are coming together to help assist with one of the industry’s biggest pain points: labor.

Sponsor: Ditch Witch

As the industry continues to evolve and underground environments become more complex and congested, understanding each role in the damage mitigation process becomes increasingly important. Everyone – from utility locating professionals to HDD contractors to equipment manufacturers – plays an important role in mitigating damage. When everyone works together and takes care of their unique responsibilities, crews are put in the best position to succeed and avoid often dangerous and costly damage. Webcast topics will include best practices and techniques for locating and exposing utilities, the role of GPS in data collection, and current trends in collection of underground data. 

Members of the industry are in this together. This comprehensive look at the damage mitigation process will help arm the attendee with the necessary information to keep crews safe.

Sponsor: SICK

Do you understand all there is to know about ultrasonic measurement technology? Gain the basic fundamentals of ultrasonic measurement in natural gas meters and what the future holds for this technology. We'll show how ultrasonic technology compares to other measurement technologies currently used throughout the natural gas industry. In addition, get a look at the latest diagnostics available for your measurement systems and see a live demo of the Flowgate software with the FS500 from SICK.  

In this webinar, you'll learn: 

• How ultrasonic measurement works
• What parts and pieces are required for ultrasonic measurement
• About available diagnostics for your measurement systems
• About SICK's natural gas ultrasonic meter offerings 

Sponsor: Ditch Witch

It’s no secret that the Fiber market continues to boom. But are you taking full advantage of this growing market? Does your planning, process, training and equipment deliver on productivity requirements of the Fiber job? 

In this webcast, we will discuss the following topics: 

• The fiber market: facts and figures
• Developing a bore plan 
• Best instillation methods for common challenges 
• Drill scenarios 
• Best practices in vacuum excavation 

It’s our goal to address some of the common jobsite challenges and provide insight on how to drive productivity on the fiber job. 

Sponsor: HardRock Directional Drilling

Annular pressure has become a very useful tool in the HDD industry. It assists in the quality of the bore hole, as well as helps mitigate inadvertent returns. We will be answering the following questions. What is annular pressure? What causes annular pressure? What does controlling annular pressure prevent? How do you control annular pressure? What is needed to run annular pressure tooling? What does controlling annular pressure affect? What are the pros and cons of annular pressure monitoring? How is limit pressures calculated?

We will be discussing how annular pressure monitoring is used by an industry leading contractor, and how it is improving the industry as a whole.

Sponsors: TriFlo, Wyo-Ben, Mears Group, Inc. 

There are many different dynamics occurring in the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) industry that both support and harm HDD. The use of drilling fluids, unfortunately, is considered a potential environmental hazard by many government agencies. The unanticipated release of drilling fluid through cracks or fissures in the soil (inadvertent returns) has emerged as a major issue for HDD no matter what the size of the rig.

Understanding causes of inadvertent returns and how to prevent them has become a major focus of the HDD industry. This webinar will discuss the challenges of using the right mud/polymer selection to execute both the needs of a project while also meeting strict environmental restrictions and regulations. In addition, discussions will include anticipating, planning and preparing to prevent and control inadvertent returns.