Industry News, trenchless people
CEO, second-generation owner, Dan Liotti announces retirement
Greenfield, Indiana — August 25, 2020 — Midwest Mole Inc., a premiere specialty underground contractor providing boring, trenchless tunneling and directional drilling services throughout the Midwest and beyond, has announced that CEO and second-generation owner Dan Liotti is retiring.
Ownership of the family business founded in 1982 by Len Liotti will be transferred to an Employee Stock Ownership, in which the company’s employees own shares. “It’s 100% employee-owned,” states Jason Miller, president. An ESOP is a kind of employee benefit plan, similar to a profit-sharing plan, providing advantages for growth and employee retention without alteration of the management structure.
The change of ownership is expected to be a seamless transition for clients and vendors, as the company continues to focus on providing cost-effective and environmentally friendly trenchless solutions, working safely and creating a welcoming work environment.
Midwest Mole is considered a trenchless technology expert, tunneling under highways, railroads, buildings and airports on municipal and private sector projects, operating as either prime contractor or subcontractor. The majority of their work involves utilities or sewer, stormwater and water pipes.
To reflect these changes, Midwest Mole has refreshed its goals and mission statement and adopted new branding, which includes an updated logo and visual identity. The employee-owned company remains committed to long-standing industry relationships and delivering quality work in the demanding world of tunneling, building on their decades of experience to expand services geographically as part of their plan of growth for the future.
For more information, please contact David Howell at david@midwestmole.com.
trenchless people
In May of 2020 the trenchless community lost one of the pioneers of the horizontal directional drilling industry. Ron Halderman will be remembered as an innovator and visionary.
Ron graduated from the Colorado School of Mines and worked in the drilling industry for over 35 years.
“HDD was not created to fill a need. It was created to fill a desire to provide an alternative methodology. New innovations are sporadic and largely a surprise coming from innovative people. They will happen and the industry needs to be ready to use them. HDD was created by innovators. It still needs that attitude more than ever.” – Ron Halderman, P.E., Trenchless Technology HDD Guide Story, July 2014.
Ron had over three decades of design and project management experience in HDD projects, including design build and EPC delivery methods. He never stopped looking for a better way to serve his clients in the industry. A registered professional engineer, he held a degree in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and graduate studies from the University of Idaho.
Over the years Ron published many articles and presented numerous papers, including many “firsts” in this industry – first mile long drill, first drill under an airport runway, first mile-long drill in rock, as well as managed a number of award-winning projects across the globe. He held two HDD related patents entitled “Apparatus and Method for Recirculating Mud When Drilling under an Obstacle” and “Drilling Fluid Recovery when Drilling under an Obstacle or Water Body, with a third Patent Pending “Pulling Product Lines Underground Under Obstacles Including Water Bodies” He was the co-creator of thixotropic thermal grout (No-Set™) for high voltage electrical transmission systems (patent pending).
Ron was inducted into the North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT) Hall of Fame in 2015 for his contributions to the advancement of both the trenchless technology industry and the NASTT organization.
Ron served as Director of Special Projects for Mears Group. His integrity was highly regarded by his colleagues. He was also a beloved father, husband, son, and friend to many. His wife, Lynn, always present and supportive of his career can attest to his quirky humor, but also of his grounded stability and love for his family. Ron passed away May 29 in Billings, Montana after battling cancer.
Ron will be remembered in the industry for his passion and innovation.
Industry News, trenchless people, trenchless products
SewerAI secures $2 million in seed funding for its breakthrough technology
San Francisco, CA, August 3, 2020—SewerAI , a startup that uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to inspect, identify and analyze sewer infrastructure defects before they reach catastrophic levels, announced that it has secured $2 million in seed funding led by venture capital firms Builders VC and EPIC Ventures.
SewerAI was established by sewer infrastructure inspection technology veterans to address the
massive problem of aging pipe infrastructure—with over 6 billion feet of sewer pipe in just the
U.S. alone, approximately 3 billion feet are in need of repair or replacement. US municipalities
spend approximately $50 billion each year maintaining this infrastructure, mainly using manual
inspections, data delivered via physical disks, and desktop-based software. SewerAI harnesses
the power of artificial intelligence and computer vision, along with a cloud workflow platform to
automatically detect pipeline defects, allowing sewer inspections to be completed in a fraction of
the time with increased accuracy.
“The cost to state and local communities to maintain and repair aging pipes, and the cost of
system failures, are in the billions of dollars,” explained SewerAI CEO Matthew Rosenthal.
“Utility companies and engineering firms help to manage the problem of aging pipes by
deploying robotic cameras to identify defects, collecting tens of thousands of hours of video each
day that are manually reviewed and assessed in a painstaking and time consuming process. This
inspection process is typically slow, expensive, and inconsistent—not to mention subject to
human error.”
Matt Rosenthal and Bill Gilmartin have separately been working in the industry for more than 10
years and have a unique combination of technical capability and real-world operational
experience. They have prior experience and seeing the problems for 10+ years and that is what
led to this AI that is solving real industry problems.
SewerAI’s groundbreaking AI, cloud-based software AutoCode™ significantly enhances and
accelerates this sewer infrastructure inspections.
“With our technology, sewer inspection crews in the field can now change their workflow to
survey significantly more feet of pipe per day,” continued Mr. Rosenthal. “ Machine learning
training dataset consists of millions of feet of labeled video inspection data, all reviewed and
validated by our expert labelers. This training dataset grows every day, allowing SewerAI
AutoCode to gain intelligence with every foot of inspection processed through the SewerAI IMP.
As the data comes in, our clients save money, accelerate their work flows, and receive more
accurate asset information than ever before.”
This technological breakthrough is setting the stage for the wastewater industry to enter the 4th
technological revolution; creating an entirely new category of business in the process.
Mr. Rosenthal added, “The cost savings to utility companies and their customers that can be
achieved with our technology, coupled with the environmental and public health benefits
resulting from a modernized sewer infrastructure, are tremendously beneficial to our society.”
With over 860 billion gallons of raw sewage leaking into lakes, wetlands, rivers and oceans, the
dire environmental impact of a deteriorating sewer infrastructure makes the need for accurate,
fast, and cost-effective inspections all the more urgent.
Coupled with the SewerAI Inspection Management Platform® (IMP)—a web-based tool that
stores the inspection data and enables users to stream inspection videos, view reports, and access
data analytics and predictive models for risk assessment—AutoCode™ empowers asset owners
to move from expensive reactive maintenance activities to more cost-effective proactive asset
management strategies.
SewerAI’s mission is to challenge the status quo of infrastructure management by delivering
advanced technology that helps engineers plan repair projects, automate routine maintenance
schedules, and manage environmental compliance with unparalleled efficiency and accuracy. For
more information, visit http://www.sewerai.com/
Industry News, trenchless people
Lithos Engineering is thrilled to announce the addition of Richard (Bo) Botteicher, PE to their team. Bo brings over 20 years of experience in the underground infrastructure industry including extensive trenchless new installation and rehabilitation projects for the water, wastewater, reclaimed water, stormwater, industrial and power markets. Bo has been involved with multiple historical projects related to horizontal directional drilling (HDD), sliplining, and pipe bursting across the US.
Robin Dornfest, President of Lithos Engineering said, “Bo is a fantastic addition to the Lithos team and with his experience in trenchless rehabilitation and new installations, he will allow us to expand to meet the needs of the ever growing rehabilitation market. We have known Bo for many years and always had great respect for his tireless work in the trenchless world and are extremely excited that he has chosen Lithos as his new home.”
Bo is a registered professional engineer and has worked both on the design and commercial sides of the underground construction industry. He started his career designing municipal underground infrastructure and facilities, including new installation and rehabilitation projects. Bo spent the last 14 years working for a specialty trenchless pipe supplier, with the last four years as the General Manager of that business. Bo is very active with the North American Society for Trenchless Technologies (NASTT) and is a member of their Board of Directors.
“I want to thank Lithos for staying true to their growth mindset and entertaining the idea of adding me to their impressive group,” said Bo. “Working directly with the utilities, municipalities, contractors, engineers, and technology firms on the present and future challenges of the underground infrastructure industry is what I enjoy most – and I am looking forward to much more of this with the world-class Lithos Engineering team.”
Lithos Engineering is extremely excited about the expanded skill set that Bo brings to their team and the ability to better serve their clients now and in the future. If you want to reach out to Bo, please email him at Bo@LIthosEng.com
Lithos says, “Welcome aboard Bo!”
Industry News, trenchless people
Total Equipment, Inc., a full-line Vermeer Industrial dealer headquartered in Puerto Rico, today announced it has acquired the rights from Vermeer Caribbean to represent the Vermeer Industrial product line in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Under the leadership of Charles de Armas, Total Equipment has represented Vermeer Corporation’s sales, service and parts in Puerto Rico since 2014. With this acquisition, the dealership will now operate under the brand of Vermeer Total Equipment. Company headquarters will remain in Puerto Rico, while the dealership offers the full line of Vermeer industrial equipment and full-service operations on the island of Saint Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and a commercial office in the Dominican Republic.
“As we expand our representation of Vermeer into new territories, we are excited to continue serving the customers who depend on us today in Puerto Rico, while also partnering with the professionals who are doing the critical work to drive progress in the Dominican, USVI and Haiti,” said Charles De Armas, Vermeer Total Equipment dealer principal. “This is an exciting chapter for us as we build on our strong legacy in the region and grow our regional footprint under the Vermeer Total Equipment brand.”
De Armas has been in the equipment industry for more than 30 years. He began his career by following the steps of his father, Jose de Armas, who founded in 1965 Compresores & Equipos Inc. (C&E), which grew into a well-known rental equipment company in the southern United States and Caribbean. In 2008 Charles assumed leadership of the organization under the Total Equipment name.
As Vermeer Total Equipment expands its territory, the dealership plans to invest in additional inventory, on-the-road service trucks and customer service representatives to drive growth and better serve its customers in underground infrastructure installation, landscaping, clean-up, construction and other industries.
Vermeer Caribbean will continue to represent the Vermeer product line across other key Caribbean islands.
“Vermeer Total Equipment and Vermeer Caribbean have been great partners known for providing dependable support to Vermeer customers across the Caribbean islands for some time,” said Herb Waldhuetter, managing director of Vermeer Latin America. “With significant infrastructure and natural resource management investments being made across the region, we are excited for what this new alignment and the investments being made across these two dealerships will do to give our customers an even stronger network of Vermeer equipment, service and support they need to get important work done in smart, efficient ways.”
About Vermeer Corporation
Vermeer delivers a real impact in a progressing world through the manufacture of high-quality underground construction, tree care, surface mining, 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, products, the dealer network and financing options, visit Vermeer.com.
Vermeer Corporation reserves the right to make changes in engineering, design and specifications; add improvements; or discontinue manufacturing at any time without notice or obligation. Equipment shown is for illustrative purposes only and may display optional accessories or components specific to their global region.
Please contact your local Vermeer dealer for more information on machine specifications.
Industry News, trenchless people
(Alpharetta, GA – June 17, 2020) With every intent to grow responsibly, Madewell® Products Corporation initiates an Advisory Council comprised of five executives of top producing contracting partners among its nation-wide network of Certified Applicators. This proactive and progressive move signals to infrastructure owners, specifying engineers, and utility contractors demand for the Mainstay-branded products is on the rise.
For nearly forty years, Madewell dedicated itself to one thing—researching, developing, and producing a breed of restoration mortars and corrosion resistant epoxy topcoats for structurally enhancing and protecting concrete surfaces. Capitalizing on the unique Mainstay® Composite Liner process acquired from US Steel in 1971, much of Madewell’s strength and market appeal is derived from its execution arm—Certified Applicators. These independent organizations are equipped, trained, and supported by Madewell Tech Services team.
It is good to be essential. Mainstay-branded products are growing in volume, value, and share of market. In the last year, Madewell leadership made a wealth of management decisions and capital investments across the full spectrum of the business. Now with the Advisory Council’s strategic contribution, decisions will be made as a unified force, with high confidence, and at the speed of business.
Invitations to serve on the Madewell Advisory Council (MAC) were issued on June 1 and without hesitation, all five proudly accepted to give time and energy to the greater good of Madewell (pictured left to right):
• Chris Culy, Culy Contracting: IN, TN
• Horacio Franco, H&R Underground: CA
• David Ventresca, Advantage Manhole & Concrete: MD, LA, TX
• David Reaves, Prism Contractors & Engineers: VA
• James Fleming, National Water Main: MA, FL
With excellent geographic disbursement throughout North America, the Madewell Advisory Council provides a nation-wide brain trust, sounding board, and source of strategic input to grow partnerships and fuel mutual, responsible growth for the coming years.
About Madewell Products Corporation: Based in Alpharetta, GA, Madewell is the developer and manufacturer of restoration mortars and corrosion resistant protective coatings under the Mainstay® brand name. Established in 1974, Madewell and the Steele family are pioneers in the coatings industry and the NACE inspector certification program with certificates of #001, #016, #018. Today, Mainstay products produced by Madewell are available exclusively through a network of Certified Applicators in North America. For more information, go to www.madewell.net.
Greenfield, Indiana — August 25, 2020 — Midwest Mole Inc., a premiere specialty underground contractor providing boring, trenchless tunneling and directional drilling services throughout the Midwest and beyond, has announced that CEO and second-generation owner Dan Liotti is retiring.
The change of ownership is expected to be a seamless transition for clients and vendors, as the company continues to focus on providing cost-effective and environmentally friendly trenchless solutions, working safely and creating a welcoming work environment.
