Water, Sewage & Effluent November December 2018 | Page 7

From left: Paul Harwood, managing director of Westrade Group; Phillip McCallum, product manager for ELB; and Stuart Hillyard, Westrade
Group business development manager, at the recent International No-Dig 2018 South Africa Conference and Exhibition in Cape Town.
Trenchless technology promoted at global trade show
As the major annual international
gathering for trenchless technologists
to meet and discuss the latest industry
developments, the recent International
No-Dig 2018 South Africa Conference
and Exhibition, which was held in Cape
Town, saw a gathering of the world’s
leading authorities on trenchless
technologies.
No-Dig is a premium opportunity
for peers to meet, and it provides a
platform for companies to affiliate
themselves with their target audience
at this one-stop shop for planners,
contractors, and operators, central
and local government officers, civil
engineering consultants, and research
organisations.
The event also afforded local role
players and municipal decision-makers
the chance to examine capabilities
and seek ways of implementing them
within local structures.
With a growing need for non-
disruptive installation of services
such as sewerage, water, and fibre
connectivity, the requirement for
trenchless technology is surging and
www.waterafrica.co.za
the need to educate installers and end
users is becoming critical. This was
the driving reason behind one of the
country’s largest trenchless equipment
suppliers, ELB Equipment, to sponsor.
With the aim of unlocking the
potential of trenchless technologies
within South Africa’s urban centres,
ELB Equipment, along with its OEM
equipment suppliers, Ditch Witch
and Hammerhead, took up Gold
Sponsorship
opportunities
that
would allow more delegates from
municipalities to attend the show and
learn from the numerous presentations
and case studies that were presented.
Avoiding disruption to
existing infrastructure
Paul Harwood, managing director of
Westrade Group, the international
organiser of the event, said the event
was hosted by the Southern African
Society for Trenchless Technology
(SASTT). Harwood added, “The
point of the event is to spread the
knowledge of trenchless technology
and promote more widespread use of
its technologies. It should be used a
lot more often to avoid disruption and
damage to existing infrastructure and
the idea is to get local government,
contractors, and suppliers together to
share ideas and find solutions to all
kinds of different requirements.
“This year, the message to Cape
Town, and the rest of South Africa,
called for innovative cities to embrace
the use of non-disruptive technologies
in future. Also, to identify skills
requirements and work with all role
players to identify future requirements
and make provision to train people to
apply trenchless techniques in future,”
said Harwood.
Stuart Hillyard, Westrade Group
business
development
manager,
added that this year’s show should
spur the development of future
shows locally with masterclasses
and innovations that will keep it fresh
and relevant. “And the feedback has
been positive with a lot of knowledge
sharing and handsome trade figures
reported immediately after the show,”
concluded Hillyard. u
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