Day 3 At The International No-Dig Show
Trenchless Technology publisher Bernie Krzys is filing a daily blog from the 2010 International No-Dig Show in Singapore.
Greetings once again from Singapore!Did you know cars are unbelievably expensive in Singapore? You need to pay about $25,000 for an entitlement fee that permits you to buy a car. For example, a Toyota Corolla costs about $90,000 — and this is a 10-year entitlement fee! At that point, you have to scrap the car or pay another fee. This is how the government controls cars on this small island nation.
Driving from here to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is about four hours via a bridge, which carries about an $8 toll. There are a lot of Malaysians at the Singapore No-Dig Show and a lot of guest workers from Malaysia in Singapore.
The German Society for Trenchless Technology is doing a great deal to promote the 2011 International No-Dig Show, which will be held in Berlin. Martin Herrenknecht was on the show floor today and Klaus Beyer has been very active with “Berlin Bears,” talking about how next year’s show will be teamed with the famous Berlin Water Show. As I noted yesterday, the show is May 2-5, 2011. Also here on the show floor are trenchless professionals Christian Noll and his partner Wilhelm Kroller, who have emerged in recent years with their own CIPP company — Reline Europe — after they left Brandenburger.
A coincidental and pleasant surprise: The Robbins Co. president Lok Home Robbins will be here Thursday evening to address the Singapore Tunneling Society. Robbins marketing director Brianna Home is also at the Singapore No-Dig Show. I plan to go to the tunneling meeting and will fill you in on all that happens there in a future report. So be sure to look for that.
While I’m on my journeys here, I am also working for TT TV, conducting “Man on the Street” interviews — a very cool concept with great results! I have already done several “Man on the Street” interviews in Beijing and Xi’an, China. These are quite interesting in that they illustrate how so many people still do no know what trenchless technology is. I will be doing them here in Singapore, so look for some rather fascinating interviews on our website (www.trenchlesstechnology.com) when I return to the United States.
Tuesday night’s Gala Dinner was attended by 160 people. The night’s entertainment included dancers and local musicians — and a lot of drums! Three awards were presented: 2010 Trenchless Project — Sydney, Australia, Interflow and Rib Loc; 2010 Trenchless Product — Forced Air Vortex Aggregate Cleaning System, Whirlwind Utilities Ltd; and 2010 Student Paper — Zuzana Halova, Czech Technical U. Prague.
Until my next blog! BK
