Underground Construction - January 2019 - 45

the plumbing world those codes
are like religion. I understood
that very early on in my career as
a plumber, but when I was introduced to the world of trenchless
pipe repair, I saw a lot of "whatever-you-can-make-fly" situations
get accepted, primarily due to low
cost and compounded by a lowbid environment.
I knew we could do better,
and as I continued to watch Insituform folks, I recognized how
they advanced the CIPP industry
through the development of the
proprietary ASTM F1216 Standard. Back in the day and still
today, that is the industry standard specified throughout North
America for rehabilitating mainline sewers using CIPP.
Having seen the impact of the
F1216, I recognized the need to

also develop standards for laterals, sectionals, manholes and so
on. Going through the laborious
process, I wrote ASTM standards
for these processes, along with
a trenchless clean-out system
for vacuum excavation. Most recently, I worked with one of my
good friends, Tim Back, P.E., to
develop the F3240 Standard for
gaskets used to seal and prevent
leaks in all types of CIPP.

Getting better never
ends
There was - and still is - a lot of
opportunity within NASSCO and
other organizations to develop
specifications, improve engineering practices and evaluate
the low-bid concept compared to
long-term best value. In the end,
our industry and the customers

we serve can't afford low cost,
short-lived solutions.
My hope for NASSCO's future
is to continue to promote education in our industry. As our
industry grows and advances, we
must improve quality control, develop more stringent standards
and influence codes with regulatory agencies. That is also a major
focus of LMK. We recently built
a 10,000-square-foot facility designed specifically for education.
We host educational events and
training in the center and also
offer the space complimentary to
industry organizations for training events. It's all with one goal
in mind: to promote long-lasting,
quality trenchless products and
services by setting industry standards that continually raise the
bar and advance the industry.

I am excited about NASSCO's
membership, committees and its
focus on supporting skilled trades
to encourage more young people
to enter our industry. NASSCO
recently became a national sponsor of SkillsUSA, a non-profit
organization that trains middleand high-school students across
the country in construction
trades and other skills. I am anxious to see how NASSCO's support will help build awareness of
career opportunities in trenchless
technologies. Not everyone is cut
out for college; presenting skilled
trades as an honorable and extremely viable career choice is
good for our industry and our
communities.
Look at me, for example. In my
graduating yearbook, I was voted
"Least Likely to Succeed."

April 9, 2019 | JW Marriott, Houston, TX

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