Trenchlesspedia recently attended NASTT’s No-Dig Show 2019 (the largest trenchless technology conference in North America) in Chicago. We met many trenchless industry professionals and engineers and we had one key question: what new trenchless technology innovations are you excited about in 2019?
The biggest takeaway from the show tends to be the quality time that’s spent with active industry colleagues and customers and the invaluable conversations to learn new techniques and methods that will save money and improve infrastructure.
There was a lot of great feedback and expert insight from the trenchless minds we spoke to. Here are some of their best insights.
What Trenchless Technology Innovations Should We Be Looking Out For This Year?
Ready-to-Go Liners
One of our new innovations is our Durapox resin, which has a 60-day open time which allows us to prepare the liner in our shop and ship it to anywhere in North America. All the installer has to do now is put it in place and steam cure it, which is great because now the installer doesn’t have to make it on their own anymore.
Bruce Stevenson, Formadrain
Innovation Across the Industry
Industry-wide product innovation has increased our ability to serve the varying needs of agencies and municipalities with the latest in trenchless technology.
Chris Lind, Sekisui (SPR Americas)
One-Step Products
One-step products have revolutionized cure processes in the cured-in-place systems that are commercially available today.
Jason Schiro, Interplastic
Pipe Bursting Without Excavation
The pipe bursting process from manhole to manhole without using any excavation methods at all. With great improvements to tool size, we can lower all of the required equipment down into the manhole and complete our processes without major issues.
Herbert Reissnecker, Global Machinery
Advancements in UV-Systems
The advancement in the UV cured systems for not only main line pipe lining, but also for small diameter piping, like spot repairs and laterals.
Keith Walker, AP/M Permaform
Advancements in Fluid Management
Cutting down our contractor’s disposal costs from the advancements in fluid management. We’re now able to take hydroexcavated material and take it from a liquid state to a solid state. This is going to continue to evolve into the norm for our contractors and we’ll be able to help them succeed with these kinds of process advancements in the industry.
Lee Schroeder, Vermeer
A Pump-and-Pull Pipe-Side Swivel
We have a new pipe-side swivel which enables you to pump and pull through at the same time rather than just pulling and pumping separately. It’s been very successful.
Neal Hamil, J.T. Miller
LED UV Curing
We’ve taken machinery that’s going back 20 years, and now we’re able to enhance them with small advancements like an LED blue-light system, which continues to allow us to do the air and steam, or even water with our machine, but now with added LED UV curing.
Ray Irvin, Emagineered Solutions
Advancements in Water Lined Pipe Bursting
The advancement of water lined pipe bursting in a growing market is benefiting from new and basic static pipe bursting equipment that makes pipe bursting easier to deal with.
Rob Morrow, Faction Fusion
More Eco-Safe Products
We’re leaning more towards environmentally-friendly compounds instead of using heavy lead, zinc or copper based products.
Sharon White, BESTOLIFE Premium Compounds
More Portable Equipment
Portable equipment. Our battery-operated mini pipe crawler can easily fit into lined 6" pipe all in one case, travel up to 650 feet and last up to 6 hours on a single battery charge.
Tristan Walker, Deep Trekker
A New Epoxy Coating System
Our patented Warren environmental epoxy coating systems are going to change the trenchless technology industry.
Vicci Messina, Warren Environmental