Underground Construction - May 2020 - 8

NEWSLINE LATEST INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS

NIAID Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), U.S. NIH.

Industry Event Cancellations
Continue Through
Covid-19 Lockdown
Many of the industry events that remained
on schedule earlier in the coronavirus
pandemic have joined the list of major
cancellations as social distancing practices
continued through April in the United States.
The American Water Works Association
announced that its AWWA Annual Conference
and Exposition (ACE20) has been cancelled.
Originally scheduled for June 14-17 in
Orlando, Florida, it was to have been the
139th edition of ACE. The next ACE is
scheduled for June 13-16, 2021.
"With the coronavirus pandemic still
unfolding, leading health authorities are
asking people to avoid travel and to practice
social distancing. It's uncertain when these
guidelines might change," AWWA President
Jim Williams wrote in a letter to members
and exhibitors dated April 8. "With the
conference less than 10 weeks away, it is
hard to imagine a scenario in which we could
move forward with full conﬁdence."
The Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI) canceled
its annual membership meeting scheduled
this month in Hawaii and conducted sessions
that would have taken place during that event
as virtual meetings.
The NASTT 2020 No-Dig show, originally
scheduled for April 5-9 in Denver, Colorado,
was postponed. In a statement, NASTT said
conference space was unavailable later this
year in Denver, and at press time the group
was still looking for alternatives. *

8

MAY 2020 | UConOnline.com

Vegas Giving up Bid to Pump,
Pipe Water from Rural Valleys

Equipment Rental Industry
Declining Amid Pandemic

Las Vegas water officials said they're giving up a
decades-long plan to pump and pipe groundwater
from rural northeast Nevada to suburbs and tourist
resorts in the state's largest metropolitan area.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA)
said in a statement that it won't appeal a judge's
order for the authority to recalculate the amount
of water that might be available below ground
to supply the project. Instead, the authority will
update its 50-year water plan to focus on water
conservation and solidifying ties to other states
that rely on water from the Colorado River.
That makes Judge Robert Estes' March 9
decision the ﬁnal word on the authority's bid
for state approval to use water rights obtained
when SNWA bought ranch land in the 1980s in
arid valleys in White Pine and Lincoln counties
near the Utah border.
"The water they've wanted to grab since 1989
never was there for the taking and never will be,"
said Simeon Herskovits, lead attorney for the Great
Basin Water Network, a coalition of opponents
that predicted the project would cost $15 billion
and would turn some areas to dust bowls.

A survey from the American Rental Association
(ARA) demonstrates the negative impact on
demand for rental equipment across the country
as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread.
The survey results representing construction/
industrial and general tool/DIY members indicate
a lesser economic impact than others, such as
party and event rentals, albeit concerning.
As of March 16, 37 percent have indicated
no revenue loss, 33 percent experiencing
up to 15 percent revenue loss and less than
three percent reporting loss of more than
60 percent of rental revenue.
Many rental operations remain open in order
to provide necessary equipment and services for
customers, ARA said.

AGC Survey Shows 28%
of Projects Impacted
by Coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic has caused more than
one out of four contractors to halt or delay work
on current projects, according to a survey by the
Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
In an online survey conducted in mid-March,
28 percent of the 909 respondents replied yes to
the question, "Has any owner, government agency
or official directed you to halt or delay work on any
projects that are either active or expected to start
within the next 30 days?" In addition, 22 percent
of respondents said a supplier had notiﬁed them
that deliveries would be late or cancelled.
Contractors listed numerous types of delays
and shortages. Nearly one out of ﬁve (18 percent)
cited shortages of required government actions
or personnel, for instance to issue permits or
certiﬁcates of occupancy, conduct inspections or
lettings, or make project awards. Sixteen percent
noted a shortage of materials, parts or equipment,
including workers' personal protective equipment
such as respirators. Eleven percent reported a
shortage of craft workers as individuals self-quarantine or stay home to care for others.

U.S. Court Cancels Permit
for Keystone XL
A U.S. judge canceled a key permit for the
Keystone XL oil pipeline that's expected to stretch
from Canada to Nebraska, another setback for the
project that got underway less than two weeks
earlier following years of delays.
Judge Brian Morris said the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers failed to adequately consider effects
on endangered species such as pallid sturgeon, a
massive, dinosaur-like ﬁsh that lives in rivers the
pipeline would cross.
The ruling, however, does not shut down
work that has begun at the U.S.-Canada border
crossing in Montana, according to attorneys in the
case. Pipeline sponsor TC Energy will need the
permit for future construction across hundreds of
rivers and streams along Keystone's 1,200-mile
(1,930-kilometer) route.
TC Energy was reviewing the ruling but
remained "committed to building this important
energy infrastructure project," spokesman Terry
Cunha said.

LAN Engineering Selected
for North Texas Water
Supply System
The Upper Trinity Regional Water District
(UTRWD) has selected planning, engineering
and program management ﬁrm Lockwood,
Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN) to serve as general
engineering consultant for the $490 million Lake
Ralph Hall Conveyance System in North Texas.
The raw water conveyance system includes
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