Trenchless Technology Announces its 2016 Projects of the Year Winners

Trenchless Technology magazine announced the winners of its 24th annual Projects of the Year awards for 2016 during a special live webinar event on 22-09-16 as part of World Trenchless Day. Projects are awarded in New Installation and Rehabilitation categories.

This year’s winning projects feature the trenchless applications of horizontal directional drilling and pipe relining. “Each year, the quality of projects that are submitted gets stronger and more difficult, making the decision of our selection committees that much more of a challenge,” says Trenchless Technology editor James Rush. “The winning projects this year once again highlight the strength and diversity that the trenchless industry has to offer.”

The Project of the Year for New Installation is the Indian River HDD Crossing, which set new standards by which electrical conduit is installed underground using Fusible PVC and HDPE pipe, supplied by Underground Solutions and ISCO Industries, respectively.  The project involved installing parallel 7,020-ft, 32-in. Fusible PVC pipe under the Indian River using the intersect method, performed by The Mears Group. Each FPVC casing housed four 10-in. and two 3-in. HDPE conduits in a specially formulated thermal grout/slurry. The casing installation is the longest thermoplastic HDD installation of any diameter to date and the heaviest single installations of  FPVC ever at approximately 385 tons per casing.

Other projects recognized in the New Installation category are: Freeport Texas Direct Pipe (Runner-up); Twinning of Etobicoke Creek Trunk Sanitary Sewer (Honorable Mention); and the Paradise Whitney Interceptor 668 & 669 (Honorable Mention).

The Project of the Year for Rehabilitation is Rehabilitation of the Oakland Macomb Interceptor Drain. This project was a first for the trenchless industry in many ways. Never before had a repair program been attempted at such a large diameter (up to 13 ft), at such extreme depths (up to 110 ft), at these lengths (more than 7 miles) and without the ability to bypass flow. The owner selected NTH Consultants to lead a team to develop an approach for rehabilitation of the system that involved a three-phase rehabilitation and repair program. Sliplining was used, covering 26,000 lf of 10-ft diameter Hobas pipe.

Other projects recognized in the Rehabilitation category are: Eldorado Springs Canyon Pressure Pipe Rehabilitation (Runner-up); Honeywell Stormwater Culvert Rehabilitation (Honorable Mention); and Rockland County Interceptor Sewer Rehabilitation (Honorable Mention).

Winners will be featured in the October 2016 issue of Trenchless Technology and formally recognized at the 2017 NASTT No-Dig Show, to be held in Washington, D.C., April 9-13. Winners are chosen on the basis of technical advancement, technical complexity, milestones and records achieved, interaction and cooperation and advancement of the trenchless industry. They are selected by a committee of experts representing a cross section of the industry.