Trenchless Technology’s Top 20 Blog Posts of 2017 (January-June)

Following up our May Trenchless Technology 25th Anniversary list, featuring the editorial team’s favorite stories available at trenchlesstechnology.com and since this week marks the midpoint of the year, we wanted to take a look at our readers’ top stories.

We went back, crunched the numbers and came up with Trenchless Technology’s Top 20 Blog Posts of 2017 (January-June). These are the most visited stories on the site. We’re counting down this mix of news, features, case studies and even a handful of our previous lists. Those previous lists, in case you missed one, can be found on the Trenchless Technology 25th Anniversary section of the website.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts on this list, or our previous 25th anniversary lists, by emailing me at mkezdi@benjaminmedia.com. Be sure to stop back every day for the latest in trenchless news, and be sure to visit July 26 when our next list drops. Trust us you won’t want to miss it.

20) Lifeguarding Hawaiian Pipelines with CIPP

Continuous exposure to warm temperatures and humid, saltwater air, combined with saline ground conditions, took their toll on a  50-year-old cast iron drainage system at a condominium-style resort on the Island of Maui. In this situation, open-cut rehab to repair the system was not an option. Instead the contractor, CuraFlo, of Mesa, Arizona, turned to its re-piping and epoxy pipe rehabilitation techniques, as well as cured-in-place pipe relining. The latter is a first for the company and the addition to its toolbox has opened a new wave of opportunities. Read More

19) 10 Cities Tapping Into Trenchless

For our April Trenchless Technology 25th Anniversary list, we decided to take a look at some of the cities making an effort to do trenchless work and/or research. Here are our Top 10. Read More

18) PICA Called Upon to Inspect, Assess Steel Force Main for Otay Water

PICA was called by the Otay Water District (OWD) in Spring Valley, Calif., to perform a direct condition assessment of a 14-in. steel force main that runs recycled water through the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge. There had been a few leaks in the past, which caused a host of problems due to the location of the pipe. Read More

17) Eight Great Trenchless Mascots

In honor of Trenchless Technology’s 25th anniversary, we are compiling monthly lists of some of the fun, interesting or important things we have learned along the way. For our March list, we decided to go down a more fun path and cover some of our favorite mascots related to the trenchless industry. Read More

16) Trenchless Technology Issue No. 1: Celebrating 25 Years of Trenchless Technology Magazine

We’re taking a trip down memory lane. We found Trenchless Technology Vol. 1, Issue 1 and transferred it to PDF for your reading enjoyment. Take a look, and like us, you’ll marvel at how far we and the entire trenchless industry has come.  Included in the issue is a family tree of HDD contracting companies from 1970-1992, some vintage ads and a CIPP story from our own backyard in Lakewood, Ohio. Read More

15) Legacy in Good Hands: Ted Berry Company Marches on Trenchless Path Forged by Founder

The Ted Berry Company name carries the weight and reputation of a founder whose presence remains an intricately woven part of the fabric that leads the company today. Today, the company that once employed just three people has grown to more than 60 and has reinvented itself over the years from an agricultural equipment supplier to a leading services provider and advocate for the trenchless industry. Read More

14) Pipeline Inspection Management: Not Just for the Big Cities

The Town of Hillsborough, N.H., is a quiet community of just 6,000 residents. In 2009, the Town, ready to proactively address its infiltration/inflow issues, began working with a contractor to implement its Collection, Management, Operations, and Maintenance (CMOM) performance goal targets. Read More

13) 12 Tips on How to Write an Effective RFP or Tender

Sometimes requests for proposal (RFPs) or tenders are clear, detailed and provide the right scope of information to attract great vendors. Others are more challenging. Writing an RFP or tender can be a daunting task. You need to ensure that bidders have the capability to complete the job properly, on time and at a competitive cost. Here are 12 tips to writing an effective RFP or tender to ensure you get a fair and accurate price from qualified bidders. Read More

12) Geopolymers Support Long-Term Viability in Manhole Rehabilitation

In a tough economy, when extra costs can create a big dent in a city’s budget, manhole rehabilitation is increasingly seen as an excellent “bang for the buck.” Recent advancements in geopolymer technology have offered the infrastructure industry a field-friendly mortar, which offers outstanding bonding, structural and corrosion resistance properties, when compared to Portland or Calcium Aluminate-based cementitious mortars. Read More

11) Increased Awareness Has Brought More Companies to the Manhole Rehab Table

Depending on the condition of the manhole and the desired outcome, system owners have at their disposal, cured-in and cast-in place liners; mechanical seals, inserts and liners; grouts; and cementitious and polymer coatings. Generally speaking, the most cost-effective methods of restoration for manholes is the use of cementitious and polymer coatings. Read More

10) With the Right People, The Crossing Group Helps Build North America’s Infrastructure Future

Since forming in 1997 with one horizontal directional drill and focused on Canada’s oil and gas industry, to today, covering all of North America, one thing has remained constant at The Crossing Group: A vision to be a leader in the trenchless construction industry though its people and technology. The Crossing Group leadership discovered as the company added more trenchless solutions and partnered with new people, new knowledge and new expertise — that those new team members would shine a light on another service option or another area where the company could operate. Read More

9) In-House Crews Tackle Sewer Cleaning, Maintenance for Colorado Springs

The Wastewater Collection Operation and Maintenance group of Colorado Springs Utilities tackles the dirty job of sewer cleaning for 136,147 customers in the Pikes Peak region. For at least 40 years, the Wastewater Collection Operation and Maintenance group has worked in-house, making sure the 1,700 miles of lines are flowing freely. Much of the 43-member crew is homegrown, with the leadership team working their way up from the ground floor. Read More

8) Fleming College, CATT Create Four-Day HDD Field Course

This news item from January announced that the Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies (CATT) and Fleming College partnered to offer a new hands-on four-day field course entitled “Horizontal Directional Drilling: Design to Construction.” Read More

7) Pedal to NASTT’s 2017 No-Dig Show

This news item from January announced our inaugural Pedal to No-Dig event, an epic ride covering more than 150 scenic miles from Historic Cumberland Maryland to National Harbor over two days on the C&O Bike Trail. Who knows, maybe other “… to No-Dig” events with Trenchless Technology may be in the works.  Read More

6) Modern Pipe with an Ancient Heritage — Clay Pipe Industry Marks Milestone Amidst Resurgence

While trenchless technology is generally considered to be a relatively new phenomenon, some parts of the industry trace their roots back farther. Tunneling for civil purposes, for example, dates back to ancient civilizations in Persia, Greece and Rome. Similarly, clay pipe has a history that goes back millennia, with the earliest known example coming from Babylonia in 4,000 BC, according to sewerhistory.org. And, like tunneling, clay pipes play a key role in our underground infrastructure systems today. Read More

5) Top Innovations That Drove the Growth of the Trenchless Industry

From the earliest horizontal directional drilling (HDD) projects and cured-in-place pipe relining  to CCTV advances and curved microtunneling, innovative ideas have helped grow the trenchless industry. Here’s a recap of some of our top picks for innovations – like the SPiDER Scanner from CUES – that helped grow the industry in the last 25 years. Read More

4) Westech Vac Systems Introduces Westech Wolf Hydroexcavator

In March, Westech Vac Systems unveiled the Wolf Wolf hydroexcavation truck, the first new product launched by Westech since the company’s acquisition by Federal Signal Corporation in 2016. Read More

3) Huntingburg, Ind. Tackles Water Issues in Downtown District

When the downtown district of Huntingburg, Indiana – the city you lead – is known for its unique shops and restaurants and looks like it could be a Hollywood movie set for Midwestville, USA, planning an open-cut construction project for water main work just won’t do. Faced with the prospect of tearing up the downtown district, city leaders looked for other options and landed on the trenchless relining of the 120-year-old cast iron water main. Read More

2) Challenging HDD Project in Miami

Dozens of people lined the street. Up and down Euclid Avenue, less than a mile from Miami’s famous South Beach, crowds were forming. With camera phones at the ready, they watched a 54-in. high-density polyethylene pipe readied and pulled underground. Most onlookers had no idea what exactly they were watching, but each one of them could tell it was something remarkable. It was the culmination of years of work. Read More

1) In-Depth With 2017 Trenchless Technology Person of the Year Jim Rankin

Jim Rankin has spent the better part of his adult life working in the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) industry. He has watched the industry learn to crawl, then walk and now run — and he has been a part of each of those steps, shaping the machinery that makes it go. Referred to by colleagues as an “HDD guru,” Rankin has been involved within the trenchless and construction industries for nearly four decades, and has made a name for himself through both innovative thought and action. Read More