Sydney has long played a central role in the Australian trenchless industry with many major companies based there, though it had been six years since the ASTT last graced the harbour city. In addition to a large group of locals, attendees came from not just across all of Australia and New Zealand, but around the world.
Participants included speakers and exhibitors from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Kuwait and of course Australia and New Zealand. Our delegates are from an even wider range of countries including all of the above as well as Singapore, Switzerland and Denmark.
Australia and New Zealand are by their nature outward looking countries and our local trenchless industry already has a well-established role on the international stage, so it should be no surprise that our events are world-class events too. Not only does Australasia import and make use of a variety of equipment and techniques developed overseas, in many areas it is our companies who lead the world in a whole range of innovative techniques and technologies.
This event brought the industry together and created information, business and other networking opportunities that would not otherwise exist. More than this, the event also helped to grow and improve the industry. While the industry is booming, the take-up and awareness of trenchless in various utilities remains patchy. Even though some asset managers have been attending ASTT events for years and know the business backwards, others have a long way to go to catch up and this event provided the opportunity for some of those people to improve their understanding.
Technical talk
NSW Councillor John Monro was Program Chair and worked tirelessly to put together an outstanding technical program with a range of quality papers that included an impressive range of international speakers.
Hundreds of delegates packed in to hear the opening keynote address by microtunnelling guru and crowd favourite James Thompson who delivered ‘When shove comes to push – developing microtunnelling and pipe jacking markets and technology.’ The paper was an informative way of starting off the conference including the long history of tunnelling before getting to the modern day.
Professor Ian Moore’s keynote paper on sewer and culvert deterioration and its implication for the design of liners was another highlight of the event. The paper brought together research over the last ten years by Mr Moore and others into the causes of deterioration and the options for liner design, culminating in some new conclusions.
On a different note, Anna Grutzner from Fenton Communications examined public engagement in infrastructure planning and delivery. Anna provided a basic primer on PR and some handy tips on how the industry can use the media and other channels to better engage with the public, as well as looking at what level of engagement was appropriate.
The remainder of the event was split into two streams, broadly covering new installations on one hand and rehabilitation on the other. Highlights of the former included Paul Nicholas from Robbins discussing alternative methods of tunnelling in rock at small diameters and Michael Lubberger from Herrenknecht who presented on a new technique that combines HDD and microtunnelling. Popular rehabilitation papers include Anthea McManemin from ‘us’ – utility services looking at the relining of service pipelines and Lance Horlyck discussing condition assessment and asking “Do we really know what we don’t know?” A number of papers also looked at oviform sewers and the particular issues raised by these.
Other papers of interest included the ever-colourful Grant Binns who talked about the importance of getting the right technology on board. Geoff Bateman of PB looked at the increasingly important issue of risk management and Philip McFarlane considered the changing nature of contract strategies for pipe relining. Robert Grove of Main Roads WA looked at the potential for the industry to engage more with the roads sector and incorporate trenchless into roads standards.
Many local and international case studies were also presented, ranging from the Rosanna Sewer Relining by Yarra Valley Water in Melbourne, and the Sydney Water Priority Sewerage Program, to HDD on the Smoky River in Canada.
Bootcamp
The first morning of the conference saw a group of delegates attend Trenchless Bootcamp – a general introduction to presented by Chris Geehman and sponsored by Connell Wagner.
The session provided a handy introduction to the world of trenchless technology for the uninitiated and a timely refresher for more experienced delegates looking to brush up their knowledge ahead of the main conference.
Mr Geehman covered all the basic techniques commonly used in Australia with advice on their applicability in various conditions and their advantages and disadvantages.
The session also provided delegates with a change to meet and greet some old and new faces before getting into the conference proper.
Trenchless goes live
Interflow demonstrated two products – Interfit and Expanda – from start to finish within half an hour. The Interflow pipelining system uses resin cartridges suitable for 150 mm – 750 mm pipes. The boys informed everyone that the resin can be cured in 45 minutes without the aid of external heating.
Expanda is a compact pipeline system that has been designed to be used on tight-fitting projects such as private backyards.
JB Sales then followed with one-on-one demonstrations of a Ground Penetrating Radar walk-behind unit. The radar gives the operator the ability to see what is under the ground by pushing around a machine approximately the same size as a lawn mower.
Finally, Austeck demonstrated the benefits of the Ibak Panoramo CCTV unit, which offers a complete visual sphere of pipe using the latest technology. The Panoramo takes hemispherical photos by using two digital cameras with shutter speeds eighty times faster than a normal camera and was inserted into a nearby manhole while delegates were able to view the results on a screen.
Making an exhibition of themselves
The exhibition outgrew not only expectations, but also the originally allocated space and ended up expanding into a specially built marquee. Fortunately the weather held out and many visitors enjoyed the fact that they were able to bask in some natural light while visiting the exhibition rather than being inside all day.
In all, 60 companies – including many internationals – took about 1,000 sq m of exhibition space. The traffic from trade visitors remained high throughout and a number of exhibitors commented that the interest they got from visitors was more sophisticated than at earlier shows when these companies found they had to educate visitors about the technology available. In 2008 many knew what they were looking for already, which is good sign of the healthy maturing of the industry.
The Social Side
A lively social program was a key part of the event and many commented on the genuine and warm social atmosphere. It particularly gave competitors a chance to take a break from their day-to-day commercial rivalries and enjoy a few beers together while focussing on what unites the industry rather than what divides it.
The fun began with golf at the recently re-developed Strathfield Golf Course which started with a lavish buffet lunch. The conference officially kicked-off with a cocktail party sponsored by Kembla Watertech and an official opening by ASTT Chairman Menno Henneveld.
The Pirate-themed Harbour Cruise offered a great way for all attendees to unwind mid-conference. The Vermeer-sponsored event travelled around Sydney Harbour Bay while passengers enjoyed a fabulous seafood buffet. Many delegates got into the spirit of the night with pirate themed costumes as well.
Gala Dinner and Awards
The Gala Dinner, sponsored by Vinidex, was held in the Aquatic Centre by the pool where many world records were set at the 2000 Olympics. About 300 delegates, exhibitors and partners enjoyed the three-course meal while being entertained by Keith Scott – one of the world’s leading impersonators, most famous for providing the voice of Bullwinkle the moose.
The ASTT Project of the Year Awards were presented at the Gala Dinner. Interflow took out the award for Rehabilitation Project of the Year for its work on the Western Branch Sewer Main Project. Meanwhile, the Perth main Sewer Section 6 took out the New Installation Award with Humes recognised for its jacking pipe and MacCormick Civil and Tunnelling for its microtunelling on the projects. See the articles on pages 44 and 49 for more information on these projects.
See you in 2009!
The ASTT goes to Melbourne in 2009. Originally publicised as taking place in March, due to popular demand the event has now moved to September 2009. Expected to build on the success of 2008; the Melbourne event will again include a large exhibition, international keynotes, live demonstrations, a gala awards dinner and other social functions. Additionally, more training and workshops are being considered with particularly focuses on tunnelling, local government, water and more. Keep your eye on http://www.trenchless2009.com for more information.
