Underground Construction - August 2017 - 6

NEWSLINE LATEST INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS

UCTA Gulf Coast Events Support, Promote Industry

The June lunch meeting of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Underground
Construction Technology Association in Houston featured Harris County Commissioner "Cactus" Jack Cagle, who has worked in Harris County
Precinct 4 for 30 years, as an attorney, elected judge and commissioner
for the past six years. In discussing his current responsibilities and
challenges for the 390-square-mile, 1.2-million-population Precinct 4
in north and west Harris County, he related them to the underground
infrastructure industry.
"Like you, we seek buried treasure," he said. "And there's a lot of that
going on."
Most of the 1,400-plus plats - project applications for land development - approved in
Harris County over the pas t three years were
in Precinct 4. There has been much activity
in administering and managing the Capital
Improvement Projects Program, starting and
completing new construction, expansion,
repair and replacement of infrastructure to
improve mobility and air quality.
Cagle is also responsible for the precinct's
3,800 acres of parkland. A crown jewel is Spring Creek Greenway, which preserves more
than 3,400 acres of greenspace along one of the last remaining natural waterways (Spring
Creek) in Harris County. Spanning five Precinct 4 parks, it's heavily wooded with 60-foot pine
trees, providing habitats to a wide array of plants, fungi and wildlife; reducing flood-risk; and
improving air and water quality.
"The greenway is a buried treasure for its wonder and beauty, and the fact that it also
helps keep our homes dry," he added.
Another similarity with the UCTA Gulf Coast audience is looking under the surface for
innovative solutions. While historically focusing flood control on maintaining and expanding
the county's drainage infrastructure, for example, the precinct is now researching water
reuse that involves pumping stormwater into underground aquifers.
"This could be another tool to not only fight flooding, but help even out the drastic swings
between having too much and too little rain," said Cagle.

Clay shoot
In other UCTA Gulf Coast news, the annual Clay Shoot Scholarship Fundraiser was held
on May 5 at the Westside Sporting Grounds in Katy, TX. With 88 shooters participating and
multiple sponsors, the event netted more than $10,000 for student scholarships.Placing first
at the event was a team from engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam.

Sponsors included:
Sharp Shooter Level
Ditch Witch of Houston
Marksman Level
* Southern Trenchless
* BRH Garver
* Contech
* Forterra
* CleanServe Pipe Cleaning & Inspection
* Derrick
* Kimley Horn
* Robinson Pipe & Supply
* Lockwood Andrews & Newnam
* Sandale Utility Products
FOR MORE INFORMATION
UCTA Gulf Coast, (713) 830-2184; uctahq@gmail.com

ucononline.com

Marshal Level
* Law Offices of Bradley W. Cole
* EGSW
Station Level Hobas
Saloon Level
McCain Waterworks Marketing
Food Sponsor Bortunco
Raﬄe Sponsors
* DSI
* Can Clay
* Southern Trenchless
* Akkerman
* Forterra

TWDB Approves $44 Million For Water,
Wastewater Systems
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), the
state agency charged with collecting and disseminating
water-related data, assisting with regional planning,
and preparing the state water plan for the development of the state's water resources, approved more
than $44 million of financial assistance for water and
wastewater systems.
* $43 million to the San Jacinto River Authority (Harris and Montgomery counties) for design and construction costs associated with wastewater system
improvements. The Authority will replace approximately 2 miles of pipeline and other equipment at
the treatment facility.
* $1,033,800 to the City of New Deal (Lubbock County) consisting of a $935,000 loan and $98,800 in
loan forgiveness, from the Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund. The assistance will finance replacement of approximately 18,000 feet of pipeline and
construction of a 138,000-gallon storage tank.
twdb.texas.gov

ASCE Publishes Updated Standard For Soil-Pipe
Interaction Systems
Standard Practice for the Direct Design of Buried Precast
Concrete Pipe Using Standard
Installations (SIDD), Standards
ANSI/CI 15-17, reviews the
design and construction of the
soil-pipe interaction system
used for the conveyance of sewage, industrial wastes, stormwater and drainage. The SIDD
method accounts for the interaction between pipe and
soil envelope in determining loads, pressure distributions, moment, thrust and shear. Construction requirements for excavation, safety, foundations, bedding,
sheathing removal, and trench shield advancement are
presented. Four types of standard embankment installations and four types of standard trench installations
are covered.
A revision of ASCE 15-98, this Standard includes
updates to correlate with the latest ASTM International and American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA)
documents for trench and embankment conditions, as
well as current soil classifications. Design equations for
non-reinforced concrete pipe have been added. Standard ASCE/CI 15-17 may be used as a reference in preparing project specifications based on the SIDD method,
and the limits state design procedure is consistent with
the procedures outlined in the AASHTO Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges.
The publication is useful to civil engineering design
professionals, consultants, owners, and transportation
officials. To purchase it online, visit asce.org and select
"Publications," then "Books & Standards."
Underground Construction August 2017

http://www.twdb.texas.gov http://www.asce.org http://www.ucononline.com

Underground Construction - August 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Underground Construction - August 2017