Trenchless Technology Canada Editor’s Message – Merry Christmas

As this is my final column for 2021, I wanted to start out by saying, on behalf of Kelly Dadich, Deborah McManus and myself, Happy Holidays and a joyous New Year to you and your families.

As I write this, from a hotel room in Vancouver, British Columbia, the 2021 No-Dig North Conference is wrapping up. By all accounts the conference was a success. We had nearly 500 attendees, not bad considering many of the typical municipal attendees and even some of the consultants were still unable to travel due to the pandemic. It’s also worth noting here that the inaugural No-Dig North in Calgary two years ago drew approximately 525 attendees.

It was great to once again be able to chat with so many of my trenchless friends face-to-face as opposed through a web-based platform. I’d say this is a stellar way to end the year and gives us much to look forward to when No-Dig North heads to Toronto in October 2022. Plenty of info will be available at nodignorth.ca. If you’re interested in submitting an abstract, the deadline is Feb. 1.

It’s crazy to think that 2021 is ending, and like last year, much of the work we have done here at Trenchless Technology Canada has been remotely. And we are not alone. Save for the trenchless crews in the field getting their hands dirty, everyone has spent most of the year working remotely.

While this pandemic scenario is not one to take lightly, it is refreshing to hear that many trenchless crews working on municipal, regional and provincial utility projects and consulting firms are staying just as busy. Speaking of the trenchless engineering world, we once again feature an engineering-focused Q&A in our Winter issue.

RELATED: 2021 Trenchless Q&A: A Look at Trenchless Engineering in Canada

This Q&A with Hatch, Aldea Services and Stantec is meant to shine a light on the growth of the trenchless engineering sector. It’s also a great companion piece for our newly created list of the Top Trenchless Engineering Firms in Canada.

Conferencing in 2022

One of the highlights of February is attending the 2022 WWETT Show in Indianapolis. It is a great avenue for me to check-in with the many Canadian manufacturers and suppliers serving the sewer cleaning, inspection and rehabilitation industries. Unfortunately, the conference did not happen in 2021, but you better believe the team here at Trenchless Technology Canada is ready to go in February. More information is available at wwettshow.com. Fingers crossed that our borders will stay open and travel-friendly so that we will see each other there. If you can’t wait until February and are looking to discuss new products or services. Give me a call or send an email and I would love to hear from you.

Looking at April, it’s shaping up to be a busy month for the trenchless industry. First, we have NASTT’s 2022 No-Dig Show, set to take place April 10-14 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which should make for an easy and direct flight from Canada’s major airports. More information is available at nodigshow.com.

As I mentioned before, I’m writing this from Vancouver and I’ll be making a return to British Columbia in 2022 for the Trenchless Technology Road Show, which is set for April 24-26 in Kelowna, British Columbia. This will mark the first in-person Trenchless Technology Road Show since we were in Richmond, British Columbia, in the spring of 2019. Look for more information on this show, which is a partnership between Benjamin Media, CATT, NASTT-BC and the Canadian chapters of UESI – at catttrenchlessroadshow.ca.

Looking to the end of July, I am actively involved in the marketing for the UESI Pipelines 2022 conference, which is set to take place at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana. Conference co-chairs are Jeff Boschert, P.E., M.ASCE, president of the National Clay Pipe Institute (NCPI) and Jeremy Kosegi, P. Eng., M.ASCE, manager capital project delivery for Citizens Energy Group. We are in the early phases of planning and are actively looking for volunteers. More information is available at pipelinesconference.org/about/volunteer.

Other Thoughts

Looking at our evolving coverage, we want to incorporate more stories that focus on construction industry-related issues into this magazine. These stories could include workforce development, safety, insurance, project funding, equipment procurement, etc. If you, or someone you know, could speak to these or any topics, drop me a note and I’ll add the contact info to my list.

In general, whether you are a distributor, contractor, engineer or manufacturer, my door (well in this case email inbox) is always open. Feel free to reach out to me with news and story ideas or other ways in which we can improve the magazine.

I’d love to hear what you have in store for next year. Let’s connect virtually whether it be Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or any of the other video conferencing applications. I am always available to chat about this growing, and ever-changing industry.

I hope everyone stays safe, stays healthy and stays happy heading into 2022!

Mike Kezdi, Managing Editor
E: mkezdi@benjaminmedia.com
O: 330-752-1916