Trenchless Technology Center Industry Advisory Board Meets in Louisiana
The Trenchless Technology Center Industry Advisory Board met Oct. 24-26 in Ruston, Louisiana.
The Trenchless Technology Center (TTC) at Louisiana Tech University held its annual Industry Advisory Board meeting Oct. 24-26 in Ruston, Louisiana. Led by TTC director John Matthews, the meeting provides board members an update of the Center’s activities and accomplishments.
Among the leading initiatives for TTC in 2018 is the planning of the new Barbera Underground Infrastructure Research & Training (BUIRT) facility, which is envisioned to be a state-of-the-art training facility on the Louisiana Tech campus. The facility will be home the TTC’s annual Auger Boring School, which along with the annual Utility Investigations School are recent offerings of the Center.
TTC announced that is nearing the completion of a project in conjunction with NUCA to update the association’s publication “Trenchless Construction and Rehabilitation Methods.” The new version is nearing completion, and covers Geotechnical Considerations; Horizontal Auger Boring (HAB); Pipe Jacking (PJ) & Utility Tunneling (UT); Microtunneling (MT); Pilot Tube Method (PTM); Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD); Direct Pipe Method (DP); Pipe Ramming Method; Pipe Bursting (PB); and Underground Utility Risk Management.
In addition to ongoing research, student activities, and the popular Municipal Forum events, TTC is beginning a research program on behalf of NASSCO to study the emissions of steam-cure CIPP to provide reliable and quantifiable data. TTC field collection of data was scheduled to begin in November.
The IAB is comprised of manufacturers, contractors, engineers, associations, media, and public works members and is a valuable resource for strategic planning and program development, while also providing the TTC with industry perspective. The IAB is engaged in identifying and prioritizing current and future needs of the industry, monitoring progress of specific projects, reviewing research results, assisting in projects, assisting in technology transfer, and promoting education and interaction with students interested in the industry.
The TTC was initiated as the Trenchless Excavation Center in 1989 and formally became the TTC in Nov. 1991. It was created to promote research, development and technology transfer in the trenchless industry. In addition to its research activities, a strong effort has been focused toward the education of engineers, contractors, government agencies and others about the availability and capability of trenchless methods for the solution of difficult underground infrastructure problems.
RELATED: More Than 22,500 Workers Took Part In The 2018 Trench Safety Stand Down
