NASTT No-Dig Show Attracts Big Crowd in Nashville

The No-Dig Show, the annual conference and exhibition of the North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT), attracted another strong crowd at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn., March 11-15.

There are two main attractions that draw people to the No-Dig Show. One is the technical paper sessions that provide detailed, peer-reviewed papers covering a broad range of topics relevant to the industry. There were 140 papers presented covering condition assessment and inspection, horizontal directional drilling, microtunneling, large diameter tunneling, pipe bursting, auger boring, slip lining, cured-in-place pipe relining, and more.

The other main component of the No-Dig Show is the exhibition hall, in which attendees can see first-hand the latest products that are keeping the industry at the forefront of the utility construction and repair industry. About 140 exhibiting companies occupied the 73,000-sq ft exhibit hall. Exhibiting companies include several companies related to tunneling and microtunneling.

Like many association conferences, the annual No-Dig Show is a time for NASTT to honor the people and projects that shape the industry. Among the social highlights of No-Dig are the presentation of the annualTrenchless Technology Person of the Year, Trenchless Technology Projects of the Year and Chairman’s Award.
The Person of the Year, which was profiled in the March issue of Trenchless Technology, was awarded to Sam Ariaratnam, a professor at Arizona State University and current chairman of the International Society ofTrenchless Technology. Ariaratnam has been instrumental in bringing students into the trenchless realm, as well as promoting trenchless across the globe.

The Trenchless Technology Projects of the Year, which were featured in the October 2011 issue of Trenchless Technology, includes winners, runners up and honorable mentions in the New Installation and Rehabilitation categories. This year’s winners were in the New Installation category featured two microtunneling projects. The East Boston Branch Sewer project was awarded Project of the Year, while the Portsmouth Force Main Segment 1 project was named as an honorable mention.

The Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement was presented to John Hemphill, ISTT executive director and former NASTT executive director. The Trent Ralston Award for Young Trenchless achievement was given to Dan Willems, City of Saskatoon. Richard Palmer, Northeast Remsco Construction Inc., Leo Martin, AECOM, and Alexander Seilert, VMT GmbH, were given the 2011 Outstanding New Installation Paper Award for their article on “The First Planned Curved Microtunnel in the United States.”

New this year was the NASTT Hall of Fame, with Gary Vermeer, Vermeer Mfg., Frank Canon, Baroid Industrial Drilling Products, and Bernie Krzys, Benjamin Media.