tunnel's - Trenchless International

Sam Ariaratnam
Istt Chairman
International Society for
Trenchless Technology
www.istt.com
info@istt.com
Chairman: Dr Samuel Ariaratnam
Ariaratnam@asu.edu
Vice-Chairman: Derek Choi
derekchoi@balama.com
Executive Director: John Hemphill
hemphill@istt.com
Membership Secretary: Kyoko Kondo
kondo@istt.com
Executive Sub Committee
Jeff Pace: Australasia
Sergio Palazzo: Brazil
Gerda Hald: Denmark
Enrico Boi: Italy
Takehiro Toyoda: Japan
Norman Howell: United Kingdom
Dr Dec Downey (Past Chair): United Kingdom
Executive Director, ISTT
308 S. Lee Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
United States
Tel: +1 (703) 299-8484
Kyoko Kondo (Ms.)
Membership Secretary ISTT
3rd Nishimura Bldg.,
2-11-18, Tomioka, Koto-ku,
Tokyo 135-0047, Japan
Tel: +81 (3) 5639 9970
FAX: +81 (3) 5639 9975
Registered Address:
15 Belgrave Square
LONDON, SW1X 8PS
UK
I hope that all of you in the Northern
Hemisphere enjoyed the summer.
It certainly went by quickly! For me,
classes are back in full swing at Arizona
State University. I am happy to report
that a number of our Affiliated Societies
ran events this past quarter.
The third quarter began with a highly
successful Trenchless Asia 2012 in
Singapore from 2–4 July, held in the beautiful
Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Co-located
with the Singapore International Water
Week (SIWW), trenchless technologies
were exposed to thousands of water
professionals from all over the world. In
addition to over 40 trenchless exhibitors,
Trenchless Asia 2012 included 14 excellent
technical papers from eight countries.
Keynote addresses were delivered by
Singapore PUB Assistant Chief Executive
(Operations) Tan Yok Gin, and the
Ministry of Energy, Green Technology
and Water in Malaysia Director General
Sewerage Services Mohammed Akhir.
Thanks to Dr Dec Downey for taking
the lead role in arranging an informative
technical program.
During the event, the Executive Sub-
Committee (ESC) held a face-to-face
meeting, as six of the nine ESC members
were in attendance at Trenchless Asia
2012. I must say that this was one of
the more unusual meetings, as the first
half was spent in a local ‘non-air-conditioned’
restaurant, enjoying a traditional
Singaporean breakfast. The second half
of our meeting was held in the back of a
uniquely-configured van driving back to the
hotel for the conference opening.
On a personal note, a highlight of the
trip was that Dr Dec Downey, Derek Choi,
John Hemphill and I had the pleasure
of spending an afternoon aboard a
70 ft yacht owned by of the Shijidongda
Pipeline Crossing Company Chairman
Wei RuLin. We were joined by Dec’s wife
Jan and Jack and Eleanor Elliott from Pure
Technologies Limited. It was a special and
relaxing time out at sea, travelling around
the various surrounding islands.
John Hemphill and I visited the Colombian
Institute for Subterranean Infrastructure
Technologies and Techniques (CISTT) in
Medellin, Colombia this past August. During
our trip, we both had the opportunity
to visit a microtunnelling project site,
which was part of the North Interceptor
Project for Empresas Publicas de Medellin
(EPM). Both of us went down into the
18 m shaft and had a close-up view
of the 2.7 m diameter Herrenknecht
microtunnelling machine. What a great
experience! During our visit, John and
I visited EPM’s headquarters and also
met with several Colombian university
professors to discuss ways for their
respective educational institutions to get
involved with the CISTT. Thank you to
Juan Carlos Gutierrez and other members
of CISTT for your hospitality.
In September, I attended the 46 th Annual
IPLOCA Convention in Istanbul, Turkey.
IPLOCA is the International Pipe Line
and Offshore Contractors Association.
This Association has membership from
the world’s leading contractors and
stakeholders in the pipeline industry. It
was a privilege to attend their event
and meet up with this group as well as
several members who are also members
of various ISTT Affiliated Societies. My
wife Kathy was able to join me and
enjoyed visiting sites in Istanbul, meeting
various spouses, and attending the
excellent convention program. While in
Turkey, Kathy and I also had a wonderful
visit with Yasin Torun and members of
the Turkish Society for Infrastructure and
Trenchless Technology (TSITT). They are
working diligently conducting educational
seminars and workshops in preparation
for hosting the 2015 International No-Dig.
We are just over a month away from the
2012 International No-Dig Conference and
Exhibition from 12–14 November in São
Paolo, Brazil at the Expo Transamerica. It
has been almost 18 months since we were
in Berlin for the 2011 International No-Dig.
It is amazing how fast time flies by!
The Associação Brasileira de Tecnologia
não Destrutiva (ABRATT) has been busy
preparing the conference, which will
feature a strong vendor exhibition and
over 50 papers in the technical program. I
would like to thank the 20-plus sponsoring
companies. I am particularly excited
because this will be the first International
No-Dig event ever held in South America.
Many of the attendees will be doing preand
post-conference tours to various
parts of Brazil. ISTT Vice Chairman Derek
Choi and I will visit the picturesque Foz do
Iguazu near the Argentinean border prior
to the conference. These are reported to
be some of the largest and most beautiful
waterfalls in the world!
The month of October will be extremely
busy with events planned by AATT, ASTT,
CHKSTT, NASTT, UKSTT, IATT, IbSTT,
and TSITT. I am really proud of all of our
Affiliated Societies and look forward to
continued support of ISTT in the various
events. Vejo você em São Paulo!
FROM the CHAIRMAN’s desk
October 2012 - Trenchless International
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