Trenchless Wins Big at UESI Pipelines 2025

UESI Pipelines 2025 Conference Draws Record Attendance

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Utility Engineering & Surveying Institute (UESI) brought its Pipelines 2025 Conference to Tampa, Florida, Aug. 9-13, and by all accounts the event was a resounding success.

UESI’s Pipelines Conference is the premier event for the pipelines engineering, utilities and surveying industries. The year 2025 was a milestone year. Not only did it achieve record registrants, but it also marked the 10th anniversary of UESI.

For the third year in a row, the UESI Pipelines Conference surpassed 1,000 attendees. It bested the record-breaking 2024 conference in Calgary, Alberta. UESI was able to distribute 100 municipal and 20 student scholarships to assist in attending the conference.

The Pipelines 2025 Conference is a key component of UESI’s vision to be the worldwide leader in generating products and services. These promote and reward excellence in engineering, planning, design, construction, operations and asset management, for utility infrastructure and engineering surveying.

The program featured five pre-conference workshops and nine technical tracks featuring 72 sessions. There were 14 poster presentations, and 18 students took part in the UESI Doug Jenkins Student Competition.

In addition to the educational aspect of the event, attendees got a glimpse of the latest technologies and services offered in this ever-expanding pipeline engineering market. This was by visiting the exhibition hall that featured 101 exhibitors.

Industry Awards

The conference also served as an opportunity to celebrate individuals whose work has had a lasting impact in the utility pipeline engineering community. And it was a big year for the trenchless community.
One of ASCE’s and the pipeline engineering community’s most prestigious honors is the Stephen D. Bechtel Pipeline Engineering Award.

This year’s recipient was Lynn Osborn, BC.PLW, P.E., F.ASCE. This award recognizes a member of the ASCE who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of pipeline engineering. This can be in research, planning, design or construction.

In addition to Osborn’s recognition, the trenchless sector was well-represented in the conference’s award.

Chris Macey, BC.PLW, P.E., M.ASCE – the 2025 Trenchless Technology Person of the Year – received one of the Pipeline Division of Excellence Awards.

Younger Member of the Year was given to Marya Jetten, P.Eng, BC.PLW.

And the Project of the Year Award was given to Front Street Interceptor Rehabilitation – Phase 2. This project for the Capital Region Water District in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is the 2024 Trenchless Technology Rehabilitation Project of the Year.

Also receiving awards at Pipelines 2025:

• Pipeline Division Excellence Award: Mark Mihm, P.E., ENV SP, BC.PLW, M.ASCE.
• UESI Pipelines Best Conference Paper: 346 – Integrating Water and Sanitary Infrastructure in Major Bridge Replacement: King Avenue Crossing, Warren County, Ohio
• Best Conference Poster: 150 – North Miami Beach Water: Capital Improvement Program Update With A Focus On Innovative Construction Delivery Methods
• Student Competition Winning Team: Ashley Roa-Martinez, Lijo Manthanathu Varughese, Teresita Lomeli, and Westin Thomas

Get Involved in 2026

Planning is under way for the Pipelines 2026 Conference, which takes place Aug. 1-5 in Detroit, Michigan.
Conference chair is Michelle Macauley, P.E., M.ASCE, and Technical Program co-chairs are Josh Kercho, P.E., M.ASCE and Mark Draper, P.Eng, M.ASCE.

The deadline for abstracts has passed, but UESI is always looking for volunteers to be reviewers, moderators, mentors or track chairs. If interested, a link to fill out the volunteer information is available on the conference homepage at pipelinesconference.org.

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