Meeting the Unseen Challenge State of the U.S. Trenchless Industry Louisiana DOTD Conference, Feb 13, 2007

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1 Meeting the Unseen Challenge State of the U.S. Trenchless Industry Louisiana DOTD Conference, Feb 13, 2007 More than 3.5 million miles in U.S. Existing investment in the trillions of dollars Haphazard, poorly documented, neglected

2 Extent of Underground Utilities Estimated length of underground network in 1989 was approximately 3.5 million miles (Kramer, S.R., W.J. McDonald and J.C. Thompson, An Introduction to Trenchless Technology, Van Nostrand Reinhold, NY, 223 pp.) EPRI in 1994 estimated 7,000 to 8,000 miles of u/g electric transmission lines in the U.S. These totals do not include the recent construction of new national fiber optic networks. Other estimates of utility length are as high as 14 million miles. (GeoSpec LLC, 2002 in Jeong, H.S., C.A. Arboleda, D.M. Abraham, D.W. Halpin, L.E. Bernold, Imaging and Locating Buried Utilities, Report to Indiana Dept. of Transportation, Joint Transportation Research Program, FHWA/IN/JTRP-2003/12, Oct. 2003, 238 pp.)

3 Water / Sewer Spending in 2005 (Source: 9 th Annual Municipal Sewer and Water Survey, Underground Construction,Feb. 2006) Type of Work Spending Level (billions US$) Expected trenchless proportion Rehabilitation % New Construction %

4 Distribution of HDD Market Market well distributed among sectors Source: 8 th Annual HDD Survey, Underground Construction, June 2006

5 Growth of HDD Drill Rig Sales Market is recovering from telecom market recession Huge growth in some markets overseas Source: 8 th Annual HDD Survey, Underground Construction, June 2006

6 Areas of Trenchless Technology Location/ Inspecton/ Assessment New Installation Pipe rehabilitation Manhole rehabilitation Trenchless pipe replacement

7 Sewer Currently the largest application sector for pipe rehabilitation work CMOM, GASB34 making an impact Some trenchless methods understood by most municipalities

8 Water Shallow depths of water systems and large numbers of service connections has slowed the introduction of trenchless techniques in much of the U.S. To date, techniques are more widely applied in Europe and Asia but interest growing in North America

9 Electrical Trenchless techniques principally apply to new installation HDD most frequently used trenchless method Service connections may use impact moling Large urban installations may use microtunneling

10 Telecommunications Major growth area in 1990s More than 10% of U.S. national fiber network estimated to have been installed by HDD Current challenge is the development of the last mile connections in urban areas

11 Gas Trenchless and related techniques well advanced Originator of pipe bursting techniques High pressure resistant relining systems Connection/reconnection of services through small diameter keyholes cut from the surface Joint sealing systems Importance of live operations to avoid cost and disruption of interruption of service

12 Lateral Connection Issues Service reconnections a major issue for water and gas rehabilitation If excavation at service connections is required, part of the benefit of trenchless approaches is lost In sewer rehabilitation, leakage at sewer lateral connections may affect the effectiveness of I/I reduction Lateral services introduce legal and financial issues because the laterals are typically owned by the individual property owner

13 Economic Incentive for Technology Development Market for underground construction will continue to grow Bored tunnels will increase market share Buried utilities will increase as a proportion of total utilities Trenchless technologies will increase market share within buried utility work

14 Concluding Remarks We have a (relatively) new tool kit for working with underground facilities allowing us to do things that simply were not possible before. Continued improvements in capability, reliability and cost effectiveness will occur. Cities and utility system owners can help greatly in speeding the development and adoption of the technologies. Effective education, training and technology transfer are critical.