Underground Infrastructure - March 2023 - 14

CONVENTIONREVIEW
Winners of the Underground
Construction Awards Announced
Innovative organizations and individuals spanning the diverse
underground construction industry were honored
when winners of the inaugural Underground Construction
Awards were announced during the Under ground Construction
Technology International Conference and Exhibition
(UCT) in Orlando, Fla.
Twelve new Underground Construction awards were
presented at the Rosen Plaza hotel gala, along with the MVP
Award recognizing the most valuable industry professional
for the year. The MVP Award, sponsored by the Underground
Construction Technology Association and Underground
Infra structure magazine, has been awarded annually at
UCT for more than 20 years.
The award winners announced Wednesday include:
Community Impact Award
According to the World Health Organization, over 2.1 billion
people worldwide do not have access to safe water at home - and
40 percent of those people live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Oklahoma-based
Water4 has provided clean water to 1.6 million people
since 2008 and is set to increase that number exponentially
using new Ditch Witch technology. The idea of Water4 was
born out of a philanthropic endeavor of the Oklahoma-based
wholesale water pumps supplier, PumpsOK, owned by Dick
and Teri Greenly. Water4 is working to solve the water crisis by
establishing and facilitating water infrastructure across Africa.
In supply water pipelines to local villages, accomplishing
Water4 this goal will required a sizeable trenching task. Water4
is set to trench and install water pipeline across 250,000 miles
of the African landscape. However, this year Water4 used the
first powered trencher in the company's history - the Ditch
Witch RT45 ride-on trencher, which was donated by Travis
Wilkey, CEO of Ditch Witch of North Carolina.
The Most Valuable Professional Award was presented to Rick Howard
(center), retired public works director for the city of Orlando, Fla. The award
was presented by sponsors Robert Carpenter, Underground Infrastructure
magazine, left, and Justin Reeves of the Underground Construction
Technology Association, right.
14 MARCH 2023 | UndergroundInfrastructure.com
Electric Transmission Project of the Year
The SDG&E San Ysidro Gateways 12K project was performed
by Teichert Energy and Utilities (TEU) for San Diego Gas &
Electric (SDGE), in San Diego, CA. The project consisted of
constructing a substantial pour-in-place Substation Manhole
Vault (26'x12'x12'), building a 30-foot-long retention wall,
and hillside reconstruction that included approximately 2,000
cubic yards of backfill material. Multiple obstacles and constraints
existed onsite including numerous power lines located
directly over the work zone, a narrow road which severely
limited equipment transportation in and around the site, and a
severe slope in the roadway. The slope completely eliminated
the team's ability to utilize a crane on the project. Due to the
aforementioned site conditions and obstacles, the TEU team
determined that the best way to construct the vault was to
utilize the 'pour-in-place' methodology. Despite multiple chal
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Underground Infrastructure - March 2023

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