The delegates ranged from those from councils and water authorities to contractors to equipment and specialist service providers and included people from every state and a range of both urban and regional areas.

The event was held at the Hilton on the Park, overlooking the MCG and began with a dinner on Tuesday 11 July. The well attended dinner was sponsored by Vermeer Guests heard from Trevor Gosatti of Premium Pipe Services and the newly appointed ASTT Councillor for WA. Trevor provided delegates with an update of some trenchless projects in WA and some information on the ShieldLiner technology as well as addressing the important issue of training and skills in the trenchless industry.

The one-day seminar followed on July 12 and the program was designed to begin with a general introduction to Trenchless Technology aimed at those present from councils and other authorities who had limited or no experience with the area, before looking at different aspects in more detail.

Chris Geehman, the Manager Major Projects & Renewals for South East Water and the ASTT Victorian Councillor started by answering the question Trenchless Technology – Where do I start?

Chris’ comprehensive paper was very well received and provided a general background on all the different techniques and their applications. Most delegates found that while they were expert on their own specific area, it was very beneficial to get a wider perspective on the industry.

Of particular interest were the indicative costs which Chris was able to provide for the various methods, which was very useful in putting the options into context. Chris also provided some suggested guidelines for contracting strategies which was also very helpful.

The remainder of the morning addressed the theme of new installations and Stephen Barrett, a specialist in Tunnelling and Trenchless Technology with, Golder Associates presented the paper Key considerations when planning, designing and constructing small HDD utility crossings.

Stephen discussed some of the key issues which should be taken into consideration when planning, designing and constructing a small horizontal directionally drilled (HDD) utility crossing. He emphasised that there is no substitute for adequate planning and considered the ground conditions and spatial restraints that must be taken into account before providing a detailed breakdown of the preparations that should be made during the planning, design and construction phases.

Chris Geehman then returned to the stage to chair a panel consisting of Jim Perry of Perry Infrastructure and Stuart Harrison of Bullseye Microtunnelling. Jim and Stuart each spoke about their experience in the industry, with Jim specialising in larger drills and installations and Stuart leading the way on small diameter jobs. The pair considered the issues that determine what technique is appropriate for what job before addressing issues of concern to all contractors and fielding some questions from the audience. The allocation of risk in contracts between the various parties was a major issue and the panel prompted some useful discussion on this.

Following a lunch sponsored by Kembla Watertech, the afternoon focused on rehabilitation of existing infrastructure and was kicked off by Lance Horlyck from the

SASTTI JV who spoke about pipe assessment and rehabilitation. Lance considered the ideal situation where infrastructure was fully sealed, structurally adequate and maintenance free before returning to the real world and providing a practical outline for those on limited budgets on how to implement an assessment and rehabilitation program. The comprehensive paper considered problem realisation, asset criticality, stakeholder interests, rehabilitation objectives, pipe inspection and assessment techniques, and data capture and processing as well as the issues of packaging of work, procurement options, tender documentation, rehabilitation system evaluation and contract management.

The afternoon then proceeded with two panels; the first consisting of ASTT NSW Councillor John Monro of Interflow and Alan Sutton of Kembla Watertech. Each panellist provided a presentation on their own products, explaining the technology and applications before taking questions from the audience. John discussed the spiral wound liner techniques used by Interflow and RibLoc and the various other junction and lateral sealing techniques available. Alan included a discussion of the fold and form and CIPP techniques that Kembla offer.

The second panel was made up of Dean Jones from ‘us’ – Utility Services and Chris Frangos from Kembla Watertech. Dean presented some short videos on the ‘us’ products including compact pipe. Chris’ paper looked at the different techniques available for water main renewals and considered how these can differ from sewer renewals. The day then concluded with attendees being reminded to register for the international No Dig coming up in Brisbane.

The success of the event shows that the Australasian trenchless industry is in good health and continuing to grow. With No Dig coming up in Brisbane, the industry will have the chance to show itself off to the world. Future events in various locations are now being planned for 2007 and beyond in order to further bring the industry together to work on issues including better promotion of Trenchless Technology, skills and training, standards and more.