Industry News, trenchless people
Brierley Associates celebrates the addition of Mr. Rory Ball to lead their new Cleveland, Ohio office as part of their Midwest expansion strategy. Rory has more than 14 years of domestic and international experience as a Project Leader and Tunnel Engineer.
Mr. Ball earned his BS and MS Degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where he focused on Geotechnical and Structural Engineering, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with James Scholar Honors. Rory excels at leading office and field teams, identifying and proactively addressing project risks, and delivering world class engineering solutions to public and private clients. His North American and Pacific Rim tunnel experience encompasses subsurface conditions ranging from soft mud to extremely abrasive soil with abundant cobbles and boulders, to glacial till, to a variety of hard rock types. Serving as resident engineer, design lead, and technical reviewer on a diverse portfolio of projects, Rory adeptly identifies solutions to provide cost effective and efficient designs for complex heavy civil and tunneling challenges.
President and CEO, Dr. A.J. McGinn notes: “Adding Rory’s technical skill sets, industry experience and contacts, energy and enthusiasm for the work we do is a huge opportunity for Brierley Associates. We have admired his accomplishments in Cleveland and are now extremely happy and proud to have him as the newest member of the Brierley family.” Rory will lead the Ohio operations, and continue their long history of delivering intrinsic, recognizable value by focusing on constructability, efficiency and practicality to Create Space Underground.
For more information about Brierley, visit their website.
Blog, Industry News, trenchless people, trenchless products, trenchless projects
Please contact Leonard Ingram, PWAM, Executive Director, at leonard@engconco.com or call (888) 817-3788 to present, exhibit and/or sponsor food at these seminars.
Please contact Andrew Pattison, A to B Publishing, Inc. at marcomap@shaw.ca or call (204) 275-6946 to advertise in the journal or to discuss an article for the journal.
Industry News, trenchless people
The National Clay Pipe Institute welcomes Kent Carlson as NCPI’s VP. Kent has been working with NCPI since the first part of July, after a very successful career of more than 30-years with the city of Los Angeles. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Kent started working for the city as a machinist and worked his way up to Sewer Operations Manager.
While at the city of LA, Kent invented a number of tools for cleaning sanitary sewer pipes, including:
- The Hollywood Hustler (reverse three-bladed root saw used on mechanical rodders)
- Sparky or the Rat Rod (a high rpm / low-torque hydro-mechanical can cutter, used to cut protruding laterals and remove mineral deposits)
- Hailey’s Comet (a tail piece nozzle for hydraulic root saws)
- A quick change coupling for mechanical rodding trucks that has reduced operator injuries
That background gives Kent a unique “in the trenches” (pun intended) understanding of the challenges facing municipal sewer professionals. When the city of LA began tracking such things, there were over 1,000 spills per calendar year. Using aggressive cleaning techniques and tools, in 2017, that spill rate was just 70 per year for over 6,700 miles of sanitary sewers.
“I loved my job and the people I worked with at the city,” said Carlson, “but I had a strong team in-place that no longer really required my daily participation. The opportunity to meet more sewer rats like me and work with them on a broader set of challenges was too good to pass up! ”
Find out more about him in this Gizmodo article, see the Municipal Sewer & Water article about his efforts in Los Angeles or visit his YouTube channel to see some of his work.
About NCPI
The National Clay Pipe Institute represents the clay pipe industry to sewer system decision makers. They offer the unique perspective, history and knowledge of the longest-serving and longest-lasting pipe product available.
For more information on NCPI, visit their website here.
trenchless people
Giving Tuesday – Join the movement and give back.
November 27, 2018
NASTT’s Annual Educational Fund Auction helps raise money for very worthy causes. Since 2002, we’ve raised over 1.1 million dollars and used those funds in support of our many educational initiatives. Due to your generosity, we provide targeted trenchless training courses to the industry, publish trenchless resources manuals and sponsor university students’ attendance at NASTT’s No-Dig Shows, as well as award scholarships.
Our members and volunteers are the strength of our organization. On this #GivingTuesday we’d love to have you get involved. Join our Educational Fund Auction Committee or donate an item to our charity auction!
Volunteer or make a contribution today!
Industry News, trenchless people
McLaughlin Group, Inc. and Vac-Tron Equipment, LLC come together as Vermeer MV Solutions.
Pella, Iowa, November 12, 2018 – Vermeer Corporation announced its purchase of Vac-Tron Equipment, LLC, and its plans to bring the Florida-based company together with McLaughlin Group, Inc. which was purchased by Vermeer in 2017. This acquisition and integration of the two companies builds on the Vermeer strategy to provide a comprehensive suite of vacuum excavation technology, equipment, training and support to the growing underground utility and soft dig markets.
Founded in 1997, Vac-Tron has grown to become a respected brand known for innovative, high-quality vacuum excavation products sold and serviced across underground utility markets. Headquartered in Okahumpka, Fla., Vac-Tron offices and production facilities employ more than 100 people. For the last 13 years, Vac-Tron products have been sold almost exclusively through the Vermeer dealer network.
McLaughlin, a drill tooling and vacuum excavation company founded in 1921 and located in Greenville, S.C. with more than 100 team members, brought nearly a century of industry knowledge into the Vermeer fold last year.
“This acquisition allows us to leverage the innovation, market expertise and production capabilities across our McLaughlin, Vac-Tron and Vermeer brands to meet increasing customer demand while giving our dealers a more efficient, single-point connection to a full product lineup. Coming together solidifies the long-term strategy and commitment to support customers and dealers in a unified way,” said Jason Andringa, Vermeer Corporation president and CEO.
Operating under the combined group, Vermeer MV Solutions, the organization will continue to provide Vermeer-branded vacuum excavation equipment and technology through dedicated Vac-Tron and McLaughlin series product lines as well as McLaughlin branded utility accessories and auger boring systems.
Vermeer MV Solutions will operate under one combined leadership and sales team led by General Manager Dave Van Wyk. Leadership at both Vac-Tron and McLaughlin will come together and serve as a unified team, bringing the strengths and best practices together in the areas of innovation, design, manufacturing, sales and customer support. The Florida and South Carolina locations will continue production as they work together to meet the growing demand within the soft dig markets.
“We’ve been proud to have the Vermeer name on our equipment for the past 13 years. Now, we are proud to formally be a part of the Vermeer family. We look forward to investing with McLaughlin and Vermeer to deliver the technology and equipment our customers need as we provide the highest quality product for the customer,” said Tim Fischer, Vac-Tron president.
About Vermeer
Vermeer Corporation delivers a real impact in a progressing world through the manufacture of high-quality underground construction, surface mining, tree care, environmental and agricultural equipment. With a reputation for durability and reliability, that equipment is backed by localized customer service and support provided by independent dealers around the world. To learn more about Vermeer Corporation, visit Vermeer.com. To dig into the Vermeer story, visit Vermeerimpact.com.
Industry News, trenchless people
HydroScience is pleased to announce the opening of their fifth HydroScience office, located in Carlsbad, California, and led by Regional Manager Robert J. (Jud) Warren, PE, BCEE. Jud will be leading their efforts to provide water, wastewater, and recycled water engineering services in Southern California.
Jud has close to 40 years of project delivery experience for clients throughout the Western United States, and most recently in San Diego County. He will be backed by the full resources of their engineers and support staff in the other HydroScience offices. Led by Jud, HydroScience looks forward to implementing their mission of providing the highest quality work for their clients in this new region—the first time and every time.
HydroScience Carlsbad Office
2131 Palomar Airport Rd, Suite 208
Carlsbad, CA 92011
Jud Warren, PE, BCEE
760.815.3219
jwarren@hydroscience.com
Brierley Associates celebrates the addition of Mr. Rory Ball to lead their new Cleveland, Ohio office as part of their Midwest expansion strategy. Rory has more than 14 years of domestic and international experience as a Project Leader and Tunnel Engineer.
