Magazine
Directional Drilling: Muddy Waters: 3 Ways Fluid Cleaning Systems Can Improve Job-Site Success
By Richard Levings, American Augers Project Manager & Ben Clark, Derrick Corp. Civil Global Manager As demand for underground construction projects continues to increase, getting the most from your equipment is vital to job-site success. For HDD operators, drilling fluid plays a crucial role in eff..
Convention Preview: APCA Plans Scottsdale Convention to Tackle Important Business
Working in a rapidly evolving industry and facing serious challenges from a variety of sources, American Pipeline Contractors Association members are traveling to sunny Scottsdale, Ariz., March 25–30, for the 2022 APCA Convention. The meeting features an outstanding slate of speakers, important educ..
First Look: Tesmec Offers All-Inclusive Truck Approach to Conventional Fiber Microtrenching
By Jeff Griffin, Senior Editor A variety of construction methods can be used to install fiber optic cable to expand broadband networks. While horizontal direction drilling (HDD) receives most of the trade press coverage abo..
New Products
WrapidSeal Controls Infiltration, Prevents Deterioration, Provides Structural Integrity of Manholes Manholes deteriorate, as a result of soil stresses, groundwater, exposure to sewer gas, structural movement from traffic loading, and soil movement from wet/dry or freeze/thaw cycling. Over time, th..
Business People
Freese and Nichols Alan Hutson, P.E., vice president/principal of professional consulting firm Freese and Nichols, has a new role as division manager-Central Plains, at the Oklahoma City office. He will lead the continued diversification of services for state and local clients in Oklahoma and the ..
Business News
Reed Manufacturing Celebrates 125 Years Reed Manufacturing in Erie, Pa., is celebrating 125 years of supplying the highest-quality pipe tools and vises for professional trades. Carl Reed, scion of one of Erie’s pioneer families, along with three partners, started the business in 1896, manufactur..
Rehab News
Vortex AccuPower Designed to Remove Concrete, Heavy Debris, CIPP Lining Without Damaging Host Pipe The Vortex Companies, a leading provider of advanced trenchless water and sewer technologies and infrastructure renewal services, introduced the new AccuPower High-Pressure Water Blaster. Built upo..
Newsline
San Diego Accelerates Pace of Utility Undergrounding San Diego officials have approved a plan to accelerate the relocation and burial of every residential overhead utility line in the city underground. The new deal with San Diego Gas & Electric creates a citizens’ oversight panel for undergroun..
Pipelines Push Back Against New Reliability Regulatory Agency
By Stephen Barlas, Washington D.C. Editor A House Democratic subcommittee chairman is teeing up legislation creating a new regulatory agency that would ostensibly safeguard interstate pipeline reliability. The House subcommittee on energy held a hearing on Jan. 19 on the Energy Product Reliability ..
Editor's Log
By Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief By the time this article is published, who knows what will have happened with the Russian war on Ukraine. Our prayers are for a peaceful and positive resolution for Ukraine and the Western World, and an end to the criminal actions of the despot Vladimir Putin. ..
Business People
Lockwood Andrews & Newnam Mekbib Degaga, P.E., joined planning, engineering and program management firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN), as a senior project manager, serving clients in California. He has more than 2..
Imerys Celebrates 30 Years of Sewpercoat in North America
Calcium aluminate has been used in sewer environments since the 1940s. Initially, the drivers were resistance to sulfates in soil, rapid return to service and superior abrasion resistance. Over time, it became clear that Calcium Aluminate Concrete showed improved corrosion durability, even in the ..
Coating Materials Contribute to Rebuilding Wastewater Collection Systems
By Gerhard P. Muenchmeyer, P.E., Principal, Muenchmeyer Associates As the aging underground, pipeline collection system continues to deteriorate, replacement and/or rehabilitation become major issues for municipalities, industrial/commercial complexes and other utility owners. The deterioration in..
Rehab News
New ASTM Standard for Cleaning Vitrified Clay Sanitary Sewer Pipelines ASTM International has published C1920-21 Standard Practice for Cleaning of Vitrified Clay Sanitary Sewer Pipelines (C1920-21) – the first standard ever for cleaning municipal sanitary sewer lines. Scheduled cleaning increase..
EQUIPMENT SPOTLIGHT: Vacuum Excavators
Discovery Hydrovac discoveryhydrovac.com, (888) 4883-6452 Discovery Hydrovac is a specialized hydro and air vacuum service provider that supports the ever-expanding oil, gas, utility and construction industries. Using st..
McLaughlin Achieves 100 Years of Equipment Innovation, Service
McLaughlin, a Vermeer Brand, was founded in 1921 and has proudly marked a century providing workable solutions for the construction, utility and trenchless industries. Today, the brand continues to innovate and expand the capabilities of auger boring equipment for customers worldwide. ..
Inside Infrastructure: Ambitious Climate Goals Will Require Natural Gas, Pipeline Infrastructure
EDITOR’S NOTE Eben Wyman is a veteran advocate for key underground utility and pipeline associations. He points out that maintaining an effective advocacy program is fundamental to the success of any organization interested in the happenings of the federal government. Zack Perconti is an associat..
PCCA Focuses on Building Infrastructure Best
By Michael Ancell, PCCA Another very busy year in power and broadband construction, 2021 found Power & Communication Contractor Association (PCCA) members working diligently to keep Americans reliably connected, while also working in Washington, D.C., and around the country to ensure that this crit..
Irrigation Project Introduces HDPE to Montana’s Glacier Park Lodge
By Sara Kleinecke There is a rich history etched in Montana’s Rocky Mountains and surrounding areas, a bygone era that marked the beginning of The Great Northern Railway and its creation of lodges nestled among one of the most beautiful places on Earth, Glacier National Park. Even today, visitors s..
Washington 2022: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
By Stephen Barlas, Washington D.C. Editor The Biden administration has a schizophrenic attitude towards underground construction. On one hand, it proposed – and Congress agreed to – a $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill. Signed by the president on Nov. 15, 2021, it will pump out huge sums for sewer..
Rare Funding Bonanza Stimulates Much-Needed Muni Projects
By Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief It’s been 25 years since Underground Construction initiated detailed research into the spending plans of America’s cities and government agencies, with the annual Municipal Sewer and Water Infrastructure Forecast & Analysis Survey. As the industry enters 2022, a..
New Products
New Cat Mini Hydraulic Excavators, Cat Grade Technologies Increase Power & Productivity Built to deliver an improved customer experience, the new 4-ton, Cat 304, and 5-ton, Cat 305 CR, Next Generation mini hydraulic excavators deliver more power to the pumps, higher bucket breakout forces and deep..
FERC Ignores Environmentalist Pleas to Penalize Spire STL
By Stephen Barlas, Washington, D.C. Editor In a setback for environmentalists, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) refused to financially penalize the Spire STL pipeline, whose future was thrown into question by a decision from a DC Federal Appeals Court this past summer. The Court said..
Newsline
New Jersey Announces $1 Billion Water Infrastructure Plan New Jersey unveiled initial plans for $1 billion in federal funds for new drinking and wastewater infrastructure over the next five years. The new cash infusion is “exciting,” and amounts to a “once-in-a-generation” investment, said Depar..
Editor's Log: A Little Faith
By Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-chief As is typical of me these days, there never seems to be enough hours in the day. Always one more thing to do, one more mountain to climb. So, it should come as no surprise that I’m actually writing this column in Fort Worth as our staff gears up for the Undergro..
Business News
Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas Welcomes New President Stan Park was appointed as president of Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas, Inc. A 27-year veteran of the company, he previously held various field and executive-level leadership roles, most recently as vice president of marketing..
New Products
New RigFitter Simplifies Selection of Tooling for HDD A new digital HDD tooling configurator from Vermeer offers HDD operators, owners and dealers a powerful and easy way to select HDD tooling and build a drill string for a pilot bore or pullback. ..
Innovative Solutions Address Challenges with Lower Berkeley WWTP Bypass
By Dwight Evans, Sunbelt Rentals To ensure their success, bypass projects require stakeholders to devise detailed solutions, while also planning for the unexpected. Making improvements to the aging infrastructure at the Lower Berkeley Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) was no exception. ..
Sewer Line Root Intrusion: Prevention and Removal
By Sean Comerford, Oatey Co. Root intrusion is one of the most damaging problems to discover in a sewer system. Roots thrive in sewer lines because they are well-ventilated and provide an excellent water source. While that’s great for plants and trees, it can have a devastating impact on a sewer sy..
CIGMAT Report
The University of Houston’s Center for Innovative Grouting Materials and Technology (CIGMAT) is an integrated, inter-disciplinary, university-industry consortium dedicated to research that fosters understanding of grout, and competing and complementary, materials and technologies used in constructin..
- Oil pipeline struck during fiber optic construction spills into L.A. storm drains
- Fiber drilling strike triggers major sewer failure, lawsuits in Florida
- Utility strike at center of Dallas explosion investigation
- $1 billion Ohio River Tunnel project awarded in Pittsburgh
- Las Vegas advances multibillion-dollar water pipeline expansion
- Final Lake Erie sewer tunnel project set to begin after decades-long $3 billion effort
- Inside Infrastructure: Utility locators warn of systemic failures in damage prevention process
- Senate passes PIPELINE Safety Act aimed at strengthening buried utility protection
- $104 million Lynchburg, Va., tunnel nears breakthrough beneath Blackwater Creek