Berlin International No-Dig Is a Success

The 29th International No Dig Show was held May 2-5 in Berlin, Germany, at the Berlin Exhibition grounds. The show was held in conjunction with Wasser Berlin (Berlin Water) International Show. There were 28,000 Wasser Berlin visitors overall. There were 170 exhibitors in the No-Dig exhibition hall and 700 Berlin Wasser exhibitors overall. To add to the draw of the No-Dig show, there were more than 50 speakers, with the key note address delivered by Martin Herrenknecht, president and CEO of Herrenknecht AG.

The principal organizer of the No-Dig conference was the German Society for Trenchless Technology
(GSTT), in conjunction with International Society for Trenchless Technology (ISTT). ISTT chairman Dr. Sam Ariaratnam, Arizona State University, was on hand through out the course of the events.

Highlights of the event included a Chairman’s Dinner that took place in the restaurant atop the Berliner Funkturm (Berlin Radio Tower) — a height of 170 ft — overlooking the exhibition grounds. ISTT Chapter executives from around the world were present at the dinner.

At Gala Banquet the No Dig 2011 Award winners were announced. The Project-Installation award went to the Czajka Sewer Microtunneling project in Warsaw. HOBAS Pipe was selected for the project and a number of records were established. This was the world’s largest glass reinforced pipe used for a total project of 18,700 ft with a length of one of the drives at 3,051 ft. Herrenknecht microtunneling systems were used. The Project-Rehabilitation award entailed rehabilitation with CIPP of a steel water main in Sofia, Bulgaria. Sofijska Boda, the operator of the Sofia Water and Sewer system, needed to restore a 48-in., thin walled steel water pipeline that had been out of service since the mid 1990s. The project was located in a densely populated area and had to be completed within 40 days, plus temperatures were below freezing.

The Product award went to Hydrascan Ltd., of the United Kingdom. The Hydrascan Typhoon pipe cleaning system uses primarily recycled water in the cleaning process. The system has a 1,640-ft range. The Academic Research award went to Professor Baosong Ma, University of Geosciences – Wuhan, China, for the establishment of a 40-hour course on the Science of Trenchless Engineering. The Student award also went to the University of Geosciences – Wuhan, China. In this case, it went to Haiato Lan a student at the university for his prediction of rotational torque and the design of a reaming program using horizontal directional drilling in rock strata.

The 2012 show will be held Nov. 12-14, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Brazilian Association for Trenchless Technology (ABRATT), is the ISTT Chapter organizing the show. North American exhibit/sponsorship sales are being handled by Benjamin Media (kduresky@benjaminmedia.com). The rest of the world, except South America, addressed by Westrade (pharwood@westrade.com) in the United Kingdom. The 2013 No-Dig will be held in Sydney, Australia, Sept. 1-4.