January 2006: Trenchless International News
DCAAnnual Congress in Münster, Germany
The presentation of the Guidelines for Quality Assurancein HDD was just one of the highlights at the 10th DCA’s annual congress held inOctober 2005 in Münster, Germany.
DCA welcomed about 120 participants coming from drillingcompanies, the supply industry, engineering offices and — gratifyingly — someclients as well. This positive response originated not only from the charmingvenue, but was due primarily to an interesting program and the congress’s statusas valuable meeting point where information can be exchanged and contacts can beestablished.
A steadily improved quality and reliability of the HDDmethod were in the focus of the congress. DCA president Gerard P. Hoogveld, LMRDrilling, emphasized in his welcome remarks that quality assurance when HDDmeasures are performed only makes sense, when all those involved in aperformance reach a predefined quality level in their area of responsibility.This is not only true for drilling companies, but also for clients, planners andall other companies involved in the construction.
During the past two years, a DCA task group wasintensively occupied with the issue of quality assurance. DCA vice presidentFreek Noorman, Visser and Smit Hanab b.v., and Norbert Landesberger of TAUIngenieurgesellschaft, Berlin presented the result of the group’s work to thecongress in the form of guidelines to improve the quality in HDD. The work,currently available in English under the title “Quality Assurance — Guidelinesfor better Quality,” will soon be published in German. The guidelines are meantas completion of the already existing Technical Guidelines of the DCA. TheEnglish version can be ordered at DCA’s office in Aachen, Germany.
Once again the organizers noted a big success of theworkshops offered. The forum used allowed that certain current issues could bediscussed in small groups, rather than lectures. This year the workshops dealtwith the following issues: Breakouts — Origination and Avoidance; Contracts forProjects; Recycling! Differences in Machines for Different Soil Applications;and Steering Procedures.
With reference to the lectures, the congress relied onthe well-established concept from the years before. The first day focused oninter-disciplinary issues, such as contract laws, alternative concepts to solveconflicts by mediation or new and spectacular developments in construction andoperation of offshore drilling rigs. The second day concentrated on current andunusual HDD projects, including the crossing of the Elbe River in Germany, whichcovered a distance of 2,626 m.
DCA board member Hermann Lübbers, Nacap b.v., informedthe participants on the status of the research project selected as theSponsorship Award of 2004. The project is carriedthrough at the TU Clausthal and is titled, “Further Research in the Optimizationof Pipe Installation by Using Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) Technologywith Special Interest in the Reduction into Practice.” The pipeline to be pulledin is put under additional vibrations. The findingswere astonishing, therefore the DCA board decided to extend the research and toinvestigate a practical application. But since this would go beyond the scope ofDCA’s Sponsorship Award, sponsors were needed to pursue the continuation.Ruhrgas and RWE, together with the DCA, founded the ARGE HDD-Förderkreis tosponsor the project. The goal is to present the results of this research projectat DCA’s annual congress in 2006, dates for which have not beenfinalized.
No-Dig Engineering Livea Success in Poland
In Poland trenchless technologies have gained well-deservedrecognition and a broad circle of supporters, both among investors andcontractors. Every year in June, the City of Tomaszowice, near Krakow, Poland,hosts an International Conference, Exhibition and Live Technology Show.
In June 2005, during its third edition, No-Dig Engineering Live2005 attracted nearly 30 companies operating in the no-dig technology marketfrom Poland and abroad. In total, more than 300 participants visitedTomaszowice, with more than 200 of them taking part in the debates. Participantscame from Poland, Australia, Belgium, Czech, Holland, Germany, Ukraine, theUnited Kingdom, Italy and the United States. The languages used during thesessions were Polish and English.
The patronage of the event was held by: Ryszard Tadeusiewicz,Professor Ph.D. Eng., president of the University of Science and Technology inCracow (AGH); Kazimierz Furtak, professor Ph.D. Eng. and vice president ofCracow University of Technology (Politechnika Krakowska), PSTB (PolskieStowarzyszenie Technologii Bezwykopowych — Polish Association for TrenchlessTechnologies), PFTT (Polska Fundacja Technik Bezwykopowych — Polish Foundationfor Trenchless Technologies); and Izba Gospodarcza Wodociagi Polskie (PolishWaterworks Economic Chamber).
The idea of these annual meetings is to allow specialists toexchange their experiences and to transfer knowledge in theoretical form andthrough live shows for potential investors. For this purpose, the conferenceprogram was divided in two parts. The first session topics included inspections,monitoring and network rehabilitation and it took place on the first day. Duringthe session many interesting reports were given. Futher on, there was apresentation of infrastructure location and map making using georadars. The nexttopic was network rehabilitation. Here, among many theoretical lectures, therealso was an opportunity to see a demonstration of renovation of sewers using theshortlining and burstlining methods in the WIR system . A presentation followedof the Vacujet method cleaning (up to 2,500 bar) and pipeline repair with theProcess Phoenix method, as well as sewer renovation using the technology ofsleeves being soaked and hardened at the construction site, using the example ofthe Konudur Bravo Liner system. The issues discussed on the second day were:HDD, microtunnelling, pipe jacking, tubes and equipment used during trenchlessnetwork construction.
At the end of the conference, during ceremonial evening gala, the“TYTAN” industry prize winners were selected. The jury consisted of recognizeduniversity authorities from all over Poland. Winners were awarded in thefollowing categories: Design of the Year-New System — Construction of a sewersystem in Warsaw involving microtunneling and Herrenknecht; Design of the Year —Restoration, Renovation of Drain System in Szczecin; Product of the Year —MC-RIM technology by MC BAUCHEMIE; Company of the Year — WAVIN Metalplast Buk;and European Design in No-Dig Technologies — Borgo Val Di Taro, Italy, involvingconstruction of the high-pressure gas pipeline in a mountainous region by meansof HDD.
Wasser Berlin 2006Slated for April
At the trade fair and convention Wasser Berlin 2006, to be heldApril 3-7, international experts will be focusing on issues of disposal ofdrinking water and wastewater. At the same time, the Berlin Exhibition Groundswill also be hosting the trade fair Gas Berlin 2006.
Approximately 700 exhibitors and a total of 60,000 visitors from60 countries are expected to attend the two trade fairs, the convention and theinteractive trade show “WASSerLEBEN.” The show targets water experts fromgovernment and industry, engineers, experts in civil engineering, well drilling,waterworks construction, representatives from domestic and internationalorganizations, purchasers, water management experts, scientists, representativesof industry associations and institutions, government officials and high-leveladministrators.
Wasser Berlin features a comprehensive supporting program,including the International Pipe Symposium, the International Ozone Symposium(IOA), the IWA Conference, as well as presentations and excursions sponsored byATV-DVWK (German Water, Wastewater and Waste Management Association).
April 5 is Construction Site Day, with visitors invited to ongoingconstruction in urban Berlin. Methods demonstrated at more than 20 sites workedon by the local water supplier Berliner Wasserbetriebe will include trenchlesspipe substitution, no-dig solutions for new drinking water pipes and servicelaterals, installation of two new soil filters and trenchless repairs. The focuswill also be on renewal and rehabilitation, sliplining, short lining andinjection methods for rehabilitating sewers and the use of cutter and fillerrobots inside networks. Visitors will be able to observe microtunnelling, atrenchless method of constructing sewers, using various pipe diameters andmaterials, as well as channel line methods. PE lining, a method of inserting newpipes into existing ones, will be demonstrated at a construction site of theBerlin gas supplier GASAG AG.
For more information, Messe Berlin GmbH at ph: +49 (0)30 / 3038-0or E-mail: central@messe-berlin.de. The Web site is www.wasser-berlin.de.
30 Years of TERRAAG
The Swiss manufacturer TERRA AG celebrates its 30th anniversaryduring this year. For these celebrations, TERRA distributors of 22 nationsvisited the Swiss headquarters in Brittnau. Additionally many TERRA customerswere invited to live demonstrations of the different TERRA products.
Today, TERRA AG is the largest Swiss manufacturer of constructionequipment for trenchless pipe and cable laying. It is one of the leadingcompanies for trenchless technologies. The company was founded in 1975 by Dr.Ing. Gustav Jenne. Today, TERRA AG is a mid-sized company selling its productsin more than 65 countries worldwide. It is led by Dipl.-Ing. Dietmar Jenne, inits second generation. During the last 30 years, TERRA has set a lot oftechnical milestones that have changed the trenchless industry worldwide. A fewof these milestones are:
• 1978: The first “Quick Reverse” for underground piercing tools(moles), which functions by a simple ¼ turn of the air hose without a controlcable.
• 1990: The first Steel Pipe Ram with ø 540 mm worldwide. During thesetimes the impact energy of the TERRA-HAMMER TR 540 was unbeatable. The “rammingforce” reached 2,200 tons.
• 1992: The TERRA-JET M 900 was the firsthorizontal directional drilling system (HDD) with a pullback force of 100 kN (10tons).
• 1999: The TERRA-HYDROCRACK HC 600 C was the first static hydraulic60-ton burster in the world.
• 2005: The TERRA-HAMMER TU 045 SK represents anew generation of underground piercing tools (moles). It has been designed on anelectronic test stand.
TERRA AG owns two factories in Switzerland. Theproduction plant in Zofingen produces the TERRA products in cooperation with 30subcontractors. The assembly and the end controls of the TERRA products are donein the assembly plant in Brittnau. Both companies and their quality managementsystems were certified according to ISO-9001 in the year 1997.
Today, TERRA produces six different product lines involving piperamming, pipe bursting and compact directional drilling.
China Builds GPSInfrastructure Networks with Trimble Technology
Trimble recently that it has supplied global positioning system (GPS)reference stations and Trimble VRS (Virtual Reference Station) software toestablish five new infrastructure networks throughout China.
Located in Shanghai, Wuhan, DongGuan, Tianjin and Beijing, the multi-purposenetworks will provide a geo-spatial infrastructure in each area. The networkswill supply fast and accurate GPS positioning for a variety of applicationsincluding surveying, urban planning, urban and rural construction, environmentalmonitoring, resource and territory management, disaster prevention and relief,precision agriculture, scientific research and transportation management.
The new Trimble VRS installations follow the Shenzhen and Chengdu networksalready implemented in China. In addition, there are Trimble infrastructurenetworks throughout the world including: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UnitedStates, including Alaska, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium,France, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic,Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.
Trimble is a leading innovator of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.In addition to providing advanced GPS components, Trimble augments GPS withother positioning technologies as well as wireless communications and softwareto create complete customer solutions. Trimble’s worldwide presence and uniquecapabilities position the company for growth in emerging applications includingsurveying, agriculture, machine guidance, fleet and asset management, wirelessplatforms, and telecommunications infrastructure.
CONEXPO Asia 2006 Set forBeijing
Construction professionals from around the globe will be meeting in Beijing,China, May 15-18 for CONEXPO Asia 2006. The event will be held at the ChinaNational Agricultural Exhibition Center.
CONEXPO Asia will showcase manufacturers of equipment, products and servicesrelated to the construction industry in China and Asia and will also featureeducational sessions in addition to the exhibits of the latest industrytechnologies and products. It is co-located with World of Concrete Asia2006.
The show’s target audience is the professionals involved in all aspects ofthe construction industry, including government officials, contractors,dealers/distributors, materials producers, rental companies, etc., with a focuson China and Asia. CONEXPO Asia will feature indoor and outdoor exhibitspace.
Companies committed to participating in the show include Ditch Witch,Astec Underground, Ingersoll Rand and Vermeer Mfg.
Show owner and producers is the Association of Equipment Manufacturers(AEM).
AEM initiated CONEXPO Asia as a cost-effective method for leadingconstruction industry suppliers to meet with Chinese and Asian customers todiscuss safety, efficiency and productivity advances of the equipment andproducts on display. The show will be held on a triennial basis, beginning in2006.
For more information on CONEXPO Asia 2006, visit www.conexpoasia.com orcontact AEM at ph: (800) 867-6060 or E-mail: info@conexpoasia.com.
