Underground Construction - July 2017 - 2

www.ucononline.com

EDITOR'S LOG
Change

By Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief

Change embraces our world every day,
every month, every year. It is one of the few
constants in our lives. Change will happen
whether it be in small ways or major disruptions. But it will happen. The only question
is when.
For Underground Construction magazine
and the Underground Construction Technology Conference, along with our sister publications Pipeline & Gas Journal, Pipeline News
and various other events and products that
comprise the 109-year old Oildom Publishing, that change came May 1. Oildom Publishing was sold to another well-established
and respected, local publishing company,
Gulf Publishing.
The good news for the Oildom staff is that
the new owner is a venerable and historic
publishing group also located in Houston.
We recently relocated to the new company's
office. The bad news for me is that location
means a longer commute. But that's Houston. The city has become huge and few things
are close. Houston is well on its way to passing Chicago as the nation's third-largest city
(that's expected to happen sometime after
2020), which is both a blessing and a curse.
We love the growth and positive things that
brings, but detest some of the problems that
accompany such growth. Traffic and widely
distributed business areas are a major component of that dynamic. It's become part of
the working fabric in Houston.
Of course, being absorbed into a new
structure means we have to learn entirely
new systems for, well, just about everything
including working off of the fabled Cloud.
I've never trusted the Cloud much with my
personal data, but now all our data lives in
the Cloud. The days of floppy disks are but a
distant memory.
We quickly discovered that Gulf is full
of great people, and welcoming people. The
company is entrenched in the global oil and
gas markets with a suite of publications
and products led by flagship publications
World Oil, Hydrocarbon Processing and the
UK-based Petroleum Economist and a host of
special events and trade shows.
At first take, it was easy for me to see that
our sister publications would be a great fit
with Gulf's existing stable of energy magazines. On the other hand, there was uncertainty as to how Underground Construction
and UCT would fit into such a culture. While

ucononline.com

we certainly cover oil and gas transmission
pipeline construction projects, it is only a
small portion of the vast piping and conduit
universe we cover in Underground Construction. That encompasses the installation and
rehabilitation of sewer systems including
mainlines, laterals and manholes, plus water
distribution and transmission, gas distribution, telecommunications and the electric
grid.
Gulf President and CEO John Royall has
made it very clear that Underground Construction and UCT definitely have a place in what
the company anticipates will be a growing infrastructure emphasis. He is excited about the
opportunity to diversify into the infrastructure market.
Further, we have the support and investment to continue our pursuit of excellence
that makes Underground Construction and the
UCT conference the market leaders.
Oildom was managed by a third-generation family member; alas, a fourth was not
meant to be. It was time to turn the company
over to the hands of a growing, aggressive
and well-established media company that
respected the presence, power, history and
potential of Underground Construction, et al.
We are renewed, reinvigorated and ready to
exceed your expectations.

Ebola in sewers
Remember the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa a few years ago? Several
cases made it to the U.S. but were quickly
contained and no real threat to the general
population emerged. Included in this issue is
an article from the University of Pittsburgh
and Drexel University about an alarming,
albeit remote, risk for sewer workers. Turns
out the deadly Ebola virus has the potential to
be present in sewers downstream of hospitals
where patients were treated.
Researchers have found through riskassessment modeling that sewer workers downstream of hospitals that are Ebola
treatment centers could be at risk exposure.
New protocols will most likely be developed
to eliminate that risk in the future. Still, it
is just one more thing to worry about when
entering a sewer.

PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL
Editor-in-Chief

P.O. Box 2608
Houston, TX 77252-2608
USA
Phone: (713) 529-4301
Fax: (713) 520-4433
ucinfo@oildom.com
Cleve Hogarth
chogarth@oildom.com

Robert Carpenter
rcarpenter@oildom.com

Executive Editor

Jeff Awalt
jawalt@oildom.com

Managing Editor

Cathy Schmermund
cschmermund@oildom.com

Senior Editor

Jeff Griffin
upfront@cox.net

Pipeline Editor

Kate Permenter
kpermenter@oildom.com

Washington DC Editor

Stephen Barlas

MAGAZINE PRODUCTION (713) 525-4633
Vice President Production Sheryl Stone
sheryl.stone@gulfpub.com
Art Director

Elizabeth Fitzpatrick
efitzpatrick@oildom.com

Digital Ad Manager

Kate Permenter
kpermenter@oildom.com

Social Media Manager

David Vauthrin
dvauthrin@oildom.com

UCT - EVENTS
Convention Director

Karen Francis
kfrancis@oildom.com

ADVERTISING SALES
For complete list of sales representatives please refer to the
Table of Contents.
CIRCULATION
Customer Service

(800) 869-6882, (763) 746-2791

SUBSCRIPTIONS
Underground Construction (USPS 063-970) (ISSN 32-0188) is
published monthly by Gulf Publishing Company, 2 Greenway
Plaza, Suite 1020, Houston, TX 77046. Circulation Office:
Knowledge Marketing Publishing Services, P.O. Box 47462,
Plymouth, MN 55447-9865. © Copyright 2017 by Gulf Publishing
Company. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
be transmitted or reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the Publisher. Subscription rates are: One year
airmail is $95. Current year single issue copies (pre-paid only):
$20 plus postage. Back issues one year old or more: $20 plus
postage. Cumulative editions of this publication are available
in microfilm from University Microfilms Inc., N. Zeeb Rd, Ann
Arbor, MI 48106. Ph: (313) 761-4700. Periodical class postage
paid in Houston, TX and additional mailing offices. Postmaster
and address changes to: Underground Construction, P.O. 47462,
Plymouth, MN 55447-9865.
REPRINTS & E-PRINT PRODUCTS
Foster Printing Service
Jill Kaletha (574) 289-9253 x149

President/CEO
CFO
Vice President, Production

John T. Royall
Pamela Harvey
Sheryl Stone

Publication Agreements Number 40034765
Printed in U.S.A.
Other Gulf Publishing Company titles include: Pipeline &
Gas Journal, Pipeline News, Hydrocarbon Processing,
Gas Processing, World Oil and Petroleum Economist.

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Underground Construction - July 2017

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