There is no doubt that 2014 has been a tough year in the civil contracting industry and, in particular, the trenchless sector for both Australia and New Zealand.
There is a rationalisation occurring across many segments of the industry and there is no doubt that 2015 is going to look a little different in comparison
to 2014.
The ASTT has had the privilege of again partnering with the 2014 Water New Zealand Annual Conference and Expo, held in Hamilton, New Zealand, from the 17-19 September 2014. There was a trenchless stream included in the conference proceedings and it, once again, proved to be extremely popular with excellent delegate numbers attending all the sessions, alongside a high quality of papers being presented.
This was confirmed following the award for best paper being presented to John Munro from Interflow. Other trenchless papers presented were in the top six finalists for this prestigious award.
It was an excellent showcase for the trenchless industry as part of the broader water industry in New Zealand and I highly commend the ASTT Councillor for New Zealand, Steve Apeldoorn, for the role he played on the organising committee for this event and overseeing the trenchless stream.
In other exciting news, the ASTT councillors are looking at the society’s current constitution with a collective goal to update the document and give it a modern “÷face lift’ so to speak, given that it was created in 1991! Meaning that many components are now outdated.
There are also aspects of it that can be improved to suit today’s trenchless environment and the ASTT Council will look at making amendments to suit. These proposed changes will be ratified at the Society’s next annual general meeting, by the members.
It is hoped that some of the proposed changes will promote greater member involvement within specialist trenchless groups. More details regarding this will go out to members very soon, so watch this space!
At the time of writing this article, the International Society for Trenchless Technology (ISTT) is holding its International No-Dig event in Madrid, Spain.
This event brings together the ISTT affiliated societies, holding a conference and exhibition of a world class standard in this historical city.
It’s hard to believe that the successful ISTT No-Dig Down Under 2013 conference hosted by the ASTT in Sydney last year was already a year ago!
As this will be the final edition of Trenchless Australasia for 2014, let me take this opportunity to wish all ASTT members and stakeholders in the trenchless industry a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I hope that your festive season is a safe and prosperous one for you and your families. See you in 2015!