NASTT Announces 2013 Hall of Fame Class

The North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT) has announced the members of its 2013 Hall of Fame class: Insituform founder, the late Eric Wood; Ditch Witch founder Edward Malzahn; and trenchless engineer Dr. David Bennett.

NASTT’s 2013 Hall of Fame class will be formally inducted at the Gala Awards Dinner on March 5 at NASTT’s 2013 No-Dig Show in Sacramento, Calif.

“These inductees epitomize innovation, which is one of the key tenants of the trenchless technology industry. I could not be more proud and honored to have these individuals inducted into NASTT’s Hall of Fame,” says NASTT executive director Mike Willmets. “Their contributions to trenchless technology have been paramount to the industry’s success and evolution to its current position in the infrastructure market.”

NASTT’s Hall of Fame was created in 2010 by the NASTT Board of Directors to celebrate the Society’s most outstanding and accomplished members who have made a lasting impact on the trenchless industry. NASTT is a preeminent affiliate of the International Society for Trenchless Technology (ISTT), and many of its members are pioneers of trenchless technology. The Hall of Fame forever honors the leaders and trailblazers of trenchless technology.

The NASTT Board of Directors met in July and voted the following trenchless icons as members of the 2013 Class:

Eric Wood (1935-1994) is the inventor of the cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) process and co-founder of the company Insituform, which revolutionized pipeline repair. Wood developed his unique process in 1971, bringing it to North America from the United Kingdom. The technology has developed into the preeminent method for municipalities to rehabilitate their aging and deteriorating pipelines. Wood was tragically killed in a plane crash in January 1994 at the age of 59 — just as the age of the CIPP process was opening to the competitive market.

Edward Malzahn founded the Ditch Witch brand, creating his company in 1949. Considered one of trenchless’ pioneers, Malzahn was at the forefront of the horizontal directional drilling industry, developing drilling rigs and equipment that pushed the fledgling HDD industry forward through his vision and innovation. Now in his mid-80s, Malzahn still serves as company president and chairman of the board.

Dr. David Bennett is one of the industry’s first true trenchless engineers, actively involved in trenchless technology since the late 1980s. He is currently the owner and president of Bennett Trenchless Engineers and has been a staunch and aggressive advocate of the industry, promoting it through training, academics and research. He has authored more than 50 technical papers on trenchless technology, tunneling and geotechnical engineering. He is the co-author of the HDD Good Practices Guidelines and the Pipe Bursting Good Practices Guidelines and continues to teach both courses for NASTT

This is NASTT’s second Hall of Fame class. Its inaugural class — the late Gary Vermeer, Frank Canon and Bernard P. Krzys — was inducted in 2012 and was the featured event at NASTT’s 2012 No-Dig Show. The 2013 No-Dig Show takes place March 3-7 at the Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento, Calif. For more information on the No-Dig Show, visit www.nodigshow.com.
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