North American Special - Trenchless International

news
April 2009 - Trenchless International
News in Brief
English privates go public
Approximately 200,000 km of privately
owned sewers and lateral drains in
England will be transferred to water and
sewerage companies from 2011.
Currently, if a private sewer or lateral
drain needs repairing, the bill is picked
up by householders, even if the problem
is outside their property boundary.
Most householders don’t even know the
sewer or drain is their responsibility as it
is not apparent when buying a property,
and their insurance policies are unlikely
to cover wear and tear.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn
said “Millions of householders are unwittingly
sitting on the ticking financial
time bomb of private sewers and lateral
drains. They may not realise it, but if
something goes wrong they have to pick
up the bill. The transfer to water and
sewerage companies will create a fairer
system for all and save many households
the agony of finding thousands of
pounds to pay for repairs.”
It is estimated that well over half
of all houses in England have a private
sewer or lateral drain, the part of
a drain that lies outside the property
boundary. An extensive review of private
sewers began in 2001, prompted
by the concerns of householders and
a consultation in 2003 revealed a high
level of support for transfer. The costs
of transfer will be met by an increase in
the sewerage element of bills across the
nine sewerage companies currently
estimated to be around 7.5 pence to 23
pence a week.
Before the transfer can take place, the
government has to introduce and consult
on regulations and follow Parliamentary
process. The water and sewage companies
will then have to draw up schemes
for the transfer of private sewers in their
regions.
Private sewers stem from an arrangement
that dates from 1936, before that
time the 1875 Public Health Act had
made all sewers public. The 1936 Public
Health Act meant sewers were only public
if they were already in place, laid or
adopted by a sewerage undertaker.
B.C. – new life for old pipes
The City of Victoria in British Columbia,
Canada has begun rehabilitating an integral
part of the city’s water transmission
system, renewing 4,500 metres of highpressure
steel pipes, ranging in diameter
from 20 cm – 1 metre.
The $US4.4 million pipe contract has
been awarded to Insituform Technologies.
The company will complete the work in 26
installations, using a close-fit polyethylene
solution for water pipe renewal. Work began
in late November 2008 and is expected to
be completed in August 2009.
The City of Victoria has a history of promoting
environmentally sound practices. In
addition to Insituform’s minimally disruptive
and environmentally friendly method of
rehabilitating transmission mains, the city
has also retained a professional arborist to
help protect the trees on the job site.
Robbins receives medal for TBM
Development
In April 2009, Richard J. Robbins,
President and CEO of The Robbins
Company from 1958 to 1993, will accept the
Benjamin Franklin Medal for Engineering.
Mr Robbins is being honoured for a lifetime
of innovation underground — developing
TBMs for some of the largest tunnelling
projects in history.
The Franklin Institute Awards have been
ongoing for 185 years, and continue to
recognise the greatest men and women in
science, engineering and technology. Mr
Robbins said “When I reflect on the process
of the award, and the fact that only
one engineer is picked per year, I am truly
honoured and amazed.”
Mr Robbins’ father developed the first
rock tunnel boring machine in 1952 and
founded The Robbins Company, which
is now a worldwide business with representation
in over 25 countries. Richard
Robbins has been responsible for leading
or creating the company’s subsequent
innovations, from large diameter hard rock
disc cutters to the first Double Shield TBM
for Italy’s Orichella Project in 1972.
“One of the most memorable projects
I’ve worked on is the Channel Tunnel.
We designed machines that successfully
bored through water-bearing ground at 10
bar pressure — a much higher pressure
than had ever been done before,” said Mr
Robbins. The 39 km (24 mi) long Channel
Tunnel was completed in 1991, following
the use of five Robbins shielded TBMs
placing precast concrete segments.
Another career highlight was a machine
developed for the RER metro system
in Paris, France in 1965. “We created
the world’s first below water, pressure
bulkhead shielded machine using air
pressure.”
Richard Robbins continues to work in
the tunnelling industry as a member of
the Board of Directors of The Robbins
Company and as a collaborator in development
projects. He sees much work to
be done in the future.
Communicating below the surface
Telecommunications company, Eastern
Communications will install a 240 km fibre
network to service industrial parks and
economic zones in the Philippines, using
HDD to minimise traffic disruptions.
Eastern Communications representative
Edwin Domingo said “Eastern's backhaul
expansion will provide us with three
business opportunities. Primarily, we will
provide connectivity to more than 600 ecozones
and industrial parks along the route
where the backhaul will run. Secondarily,
it will allow the company to maximise the
submarine cables because of the additional
bandwidth, and thirdly, it will allow us
to offer greater bandwidth to other carriers
and telecommunications companies.”
Multinational corporations and BPOs are
relocating to various economic zones and
industrial parks located in Tagaytay, Cavite,
Laguna, and Batangas. The expansion will
also reach Nasugbu, enabling the company
to connect to its submarine cables.
Surprises lead to delays, delays lead to cost
overruns. So work with a team that keeps nasty
surprises away from you, your schedule, and
your budget. At Mears, our in-house planners
and engineers look deeper, to plan farther
ahead. And, our field operators have both
Trenchless success in the Middle East
Trenchless Middle East 2009, held
in Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Conference
and Exhibition Centre, has been heralded
as a success by the ISTT and
conference delegates.
Trenchless Middle East, the fifth event
in this biennial series, was complemented
by the ISTT Masterclass, which
attracted 40 participants from several
Middle Eastern countries including the
UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, as well
as attendees from Russia, Bulgaria and
the United Kingdom.
ISTT Executive Secretary John
Hemphill said “The Masterclass format
seems ideal for getting the message on
Trenchless Technology to regions of the
world where we have no affiliated societies
and to affiliated societies that have a
need for trenchless training but may not
be in a position to host an ISTT No-Dig.”
The conference provided an opportunity
for specialist companies from around
the world to display their equipment
and services for the installation, repair
and refurbishments of utility companies,
engineers, consultants, planners, and
traffic authorities.
GSTT Executive Director, Dr Klaus Beyer; John Hemphill, show-organiser
Caroline Prescott of Westrade, GSTT Chairman Professor Jens Hölterhoff and
Dr Dec Downey at the German Pavillion at Trenchless Middle East.
Mears horizontal directional drilling. Because a lot can
happen between Point A and Point B.
the expertise and the equipment to implement
any plan, in any place.
We listen. We plan. We deliver. So the only
thing that happens, is success. Give us a call
at (800) 632-7727.
DESIGN/BUILD • SOIL AND ROCK • SMALL TO LARGE CROSSINGS • SHORE APPROACHES
Mears Group, Inc. • 411 North Sam Houston Parkway East, Suite 420 • Houston, TX 77060 USA • www.mears.net
news
April 2009 - Trenchless International
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