Trenchless Australasia an International Hit
Trenchless Australasia 2008, the seventh national ASTT conference and exhibition, was held in Sydney, Australia, March 2-5, 2008. The event took place in the picturesque Waterview Convention Centre, which is part of Sydney Olympic Park, home of the 2000 Olympics.
The event built on the success of the International Brisbane No-Dig to create a show that is, on the one hand just a local show but on the other, a show of an international standard.
Australia and New Zealand are by their nature outward looking countries and the local trenchless industry already has a well-established role on the international stage. Not only does Australasia import and make use of a variety of equipment and techniques developed overseas, in many areas it is the region’s companies that lead the world in a whole range of innovative techniques and technologies.
Trenchless Australasia 2008 included speakers and exhibitors from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Delegates are from an even wider range of countries including all of the above as well as Singapore, Switzerland and Denmark.
The keynote speakers included microtunneling guru James Thomson of Jason Consultants in the United Kingdom and relining expert Ian Moore from Queens University, Canada. Additionally, many other international speakers were present including John English of Horizontal Technology, Linda Ward of Geospatial and Paul Nicholas of The Robbins Co.
The gala dinner was held in the Aquatic Centre beside the pool where many Olympic records were broken. The dinner included project of the year awards, which went to Humes for the supply of jacking pipe in the new installation category and Interflow for a relining job in the rehabilitation category. Another highlight of the social program was Vermeer’s harbor cruise, where delegates dressed as pirates, took to the high seas and sailed by Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House.
This event would not have been possible without the generous support of its sponsors: Vermeer, Interflow, Vinidex, Kembla, PB and DCI. The 2009 event will take place from March 1-4 in Melbourne, Australia. Visit www.trenchless2009.com for more details.
