20th Annual Microtunneling Short Course Draws Record Crowd
March 18, 2014
The intensive three-day course covers all aspects of microtunneling as presented by leading experts in the field, including engineers, contractors, manufacturers and more. Also included was a one-day pilot tube microtunneling (guided boring) seminar held on Feb. 10. The course is recognized as the premier event for microtunneling and draws a cross section of the industry from the United States and Canada, as well as overseas.
Highlighting the agenda were presentations covering recent projects that are setting new standards in the industry, including curved drives in California, Hawaii and Ontario. Also garnering interest were presentations on legal issues, GBRs and new technology.
As part of the course, an evening banquet is held that features a keynote speaker and the presentation of Microtunneling Achievement Awards. This year the keynote speaker was Lester Bradshaw of Bradshaw Construction, who described his background in the industry and lessons learned. The Microtunneling Achievement Award winner for Project Excellence was presented to John Fowler of J.W. Fowler Inc. Also during the banquet, course director Tim Coss was roasted by his peers as part of the 20-year anniversary celebration.
Other events in conjunction with the course included an evening reception hosted by Akkerman Inc. and a meeting of the North American Microtunneling Association (NAMA).
The Microtunneling Short Course is organized by Coss, of Microtunneling Inc., and Levent Ozdemir, of Ozdemir Engineering, in partnership with Trenchless Technology magazine. The 21st annual Course is being planned for February 2015.