World Trenchless Day’s Debut Is a Hit with the Industry
What a day World Trenchless Day turned out to be! Very cool to be a part of the very first World Trenchless Day on Sept. 22, which celebrated all things trenchless technology across the globe.
Social media brought the global trenchless community closer together through sharing of photo and events on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram — World Trenchless Day was even trending on Twitter by mid-afternoon. We love our industry and it showed on Sept. 22!
The idea behind World Trenchless Day is simple enough: create and establish a day of global celebration (to be commemorated on the fourth Thursday of September each year) that unites the entire trenchless industry — manufacturers, contractors, engineering firms, associations, public works and publications — to share the world of trenchless technology, reaching out to those who have not yet realized the impact that trenchless methods have on their communities.
Since Trenchless Technology announced the creation of World Trenchless Day in March, the day has gained worldwide support and momentum from 109 organizations related to the trenchless industry.
Just few of the activities that took place on World Trenchless Day included:
• No-Dig Live 2016 in the United Kingdom
• Trenchless Technology announced its 24th annual Trenchless Technology Project of the Year award winners for new installation and rehabilitation projects.
• Murphy Pipeline Contractors hosted public site visits in Miami, Florida and Dallas, Texas, and St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.
• Avanti International hosted a Webinar titled, “Re-Living 50 Years of Municipal Sewer Grouting & WHAT’S NEXT” with Trenchless Technology.
• Specialized Plumbing Technologies (SPT) spoke to engineering students at Braden River High School in Bradenton, Florida, about failing infrastructure and trenchless technology methods.
• The Water Services Group at the engineering firm of CDM Smith created an interactive timeline that takes viewers on a journey of the trenchless technology industry in the last 50 years.
• LearnGPR.com founder Daniel Bigman hosted a livestream video Webinar on YouTube about the basics of ground penetrating radar.
LMK Technologies had a day of industry-related games, like this one called How Big Is the Hydrated O-Ring?
The crew at LMK Technologies model their World Trenchless Day shirts.
Trenchless Technology publisher Bernie Krzys (front row left) enjoys World Trenchless Day at the UKSTT No-Dig Live show. The show, held every two years, took place on World Trenchless Day.
Having fun marking World Trenchless Day at No-Dig Live are (l-r) Westrade’s Paul Harwood, Jan Borje Persson of JBP Consultancy and Trenchless Technology publisher Bernie Krzys.
Midwest Mole had a day of activities for its workers and staff.
Murphy Pipeline Contractors hosted public site visits in Miami, Dallas and St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. Here, the group takes in a 30-in. Swagelining site where 1,800 ft of HPDEP pipe was being installed.
Specialized Plumbing Technologies (SPT) celebrated World Trenchless Day by teaching local high school engineering students in Bradenton, Fla., about failing pipe infrastructure and trenchless technology solutions used to renew them with less of an impact on the environment.
The participation did not end there. On social media, the #WorldTrenchlessDay hashtag populated industry news feeds, becoming the No. 5 trending topic during the afternoon. Online activities included Ditch Witch and HammerHead Trenchless hosting photo contests, Akkerman Inc. posting a video of its trenchless equipment in use and The Robbins Co. celebrating 20 years of SBUs with a photo slideshow. Trenchless Technology hosted an online World Trenchless Day quiz, sponsored by Aegion Corp., for cash prizes and a grand prize trip to a 2017 Benjamin Media Inc. conference or event and Ted Berry Co. Inc. posted several photos and videos from its projects throughout the day.
If the analytics are any indication, the @trenchlessday Twitter account grew rapidly in the last month reaching 22,500 impressions in September compared to 8,485 impressions for the entire month of August.
Based on the success of World Trenchless Day 2016 and continuing to raise public awareness of the benefits of going trenchless, organizers are already planning for World Trenchless Day 2017, to take place on Sept. 28.
The impact that the use of trenchless methods has on communities, the economy and quality of life is immense. This will only continue to grow as municipalities and utilities realize and understand the benefits of trenchless methods vs. traditional methods. We have always known that trenchless technology will play a huge role in addressing these needs.
A big THANK YOU to all who participated in the 2016 World Trenchless Day! Looking forward to the 2017 World Trenchless Day on Sept. 28!
Join us on World Trenchless Day. For more information, visit worldtrenchlessday.org, or email worldtrenchlessday@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter @trenchlessday and like us on Facebook @worldtrenchlessday.