Clemson-NASTT Student Chapter

Annual Report – 2015

Faculty Adviser: Kalyan R. Piratla, Ph.D., Member of NASTT

1. INTRODUCTION The Clemson student chapter affiliated with NASTT was founded in February of 2013 and since then it has been active in engaging civil engineering students and faculty at Clemson University in trenchless-related activities. The purpose of the student chapter is to promote trenchless education and provide networking opportunities within the general field of trenchless technology. We had a great year of activities including trenchless seminars, case study discussions, field demonstration, and a conference visit. This report provides a detailed review of the activities undertaken by Clemson-NASTT student chapter members in the year 2015.

2. A Graduate-level Course on Trenchless Technologies A graduate-level course called “Underground Construction” was taught for the third time at Clemson University in the Fall 2015 semester and it was very well received and appreciated. The content of this course is divided into three major parts:

a) Design considerations for buried pipelines - Students learned about various loads (dead and live) on buried pipelines and

procedures for designing both rigid and flexible pipelines; - Students also learned about the hydraulic design aspects of buried pipelines focusing

on water distribution systems; and - Students designed water pipeline networks using a sophisticated optimization

algorithm with the objectives of minimizing cost and maximizing system resilience. b) Underground infrastructure construction methods

- Students learned about various trenchless installation methods that include horizontal directional drilling, auger boring, pipe jacking, Microtunneling, pilot-tube Microtunneling, and guided vacuum boring;

- Students researched unique trenchless installation projects that pushed the boundaries of trenchless construction methods;

- Students also worked on a class project in which they evaluated the suitability of various trenchless construction methods for a given project scenario;

c) Underground infrastructure rehabilitation methods - Students mainly learned about various rehabilitation and replacement methods that

include CIPP, sliplining, close-fit sliplining, cement mortar lining, epoxy lining, and pipe bursting techniques;

3. No-Dig 2015 Five graduate students from Clemson University, who can be seen in Picture 1, traveled to Denver, CO, on 15th March, 2015, to attend the NASTT’s annual No-DIG conference. Students attended technical sessions, served as volunteers helping the conference organizing team, and networked with several trenchless professionals. The students had a truly amazing experience attending the conference and made several professional connections that will hopefully help them in their careers.

Picture 1. Clemson Students at No Dig 2015 Show

4. Field Demonstration Students attended a field demonstration of utility locating tools offered by professionals from McLaughlin group and got trained in using a few tools. Pictures 2, 3 and 4 show McLaughlin employees interacting with Clemson students as part of this field demonstration/training exercise. A

power utility line in front of the Glenn Department of Civil Engineering on Clemson University campus has been located in this demonstration/training exercise.

Picture 2. Mr. Matt Manning from McLaughlin Group Explaining to Clemson Students How a

Utility Locator Works

Picture 3. Clemson Graduate Student, Mr. Nayan Patel, Getting Trained in Using a Utility Locator

Picture 4. Clemson Students with McLaughlin Employees

5. Trenchless Guest Lecture Series Clemson-NASTT student chapter hosted four trenchless seminars over the past year. We invited industry professionals to speak about different topics related to underground infrastructure management. The speakers for 2015 year include:

a. Mr. Tony Putnam (Director of Utility Services, Clemson University). Mr. Putnam (see Picture 5) spoke about campus utility infrastructure systems focusing on asset management issues and interdependencies among utility infrastructure systems. Mr. Putnam has more than 27 years of experience in facilities management and his department at Clemson is specifically responsible for energy management, electrical distribution, energy plant operations, water distribution, waste water treatment plant operations and underground utilities for University Facilities.

Picture 5. Mr. Tony Putnam, Director of Utilities, Clemson University

b. Mr. Mike Jacobson (Project Engineer at Pure Technologies). Mr. Jacobson (can be seen in Picture 6) discussed with Clemson students a few case studies on large diameter water main failures in the DC area and presented an overview of monitoring techniques Pure Technologies offer to water utilities focusing on PCCP pipelines.

Picture 6. Mr. Mike Jacobson from Pure Technologies Discussing about Near Real-time

Monitoring of PCCP Pipelines

c. Mr. Matt Manning (Electronics Products Manager, McLaughlin Group, South Carolina). Mr. Manning (can be seen in Picture 7) discussed the importance of calling 811 before digging and presented an overview of various sub-surface utility investigation techniques such as ground penetration radar.

Picture 7. Mr. Manning Discussing Sub-surface Utility Engineering and Importance of Calling 811

d. Mr. Ralph Carpenter, (Project Manager, AMERICAN Ductile Iron Pipe) and Mr. John Walsh (Sales Manager for South Carolina, AMERICAN Ductile Iron Pipe). They gave a very detailed introduction to various pipe materials highlighting the technical merits, limitations and suitability to various project scenarios. They also focused on the design and manufacturing aspects of ductile iron pipe. Pictures 8 and 9 show Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Walsh presenting to Clemson students.

Picture 8. Mr. Carpenter Discussing the Manufacturing Aspects of Ductile Iron Pipe

Picture 9. Mr. Walsh Discussing the Merits of Iron Pipe with Clemson Students

6. Future Activities Planned We had an amazing student chapter year at Clemson University in 2015. We plan to recruit more students in the coming year and involve them in trenchless research and educational activities, and also focus on fund raising and other social activities. We will also encourage students to attend the 2016 No-Dig conference in Dallas, TX, from March 20th to 24th. Additionally, we are very excited about using trenchless methods in the engineering outreach program that we are currently doing with a nearby elementary school where majority of the students are from rural backgrounds. We hope to include some pictures from this outreach program in our student chapter presentation at the No Dig 2016 conference.

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