Underground Construction - September 2022 - 23

Trenchless Technology
Center Report
Dr. John Matthews | Trenchless Technology Center Director
TTC Research Initiatives Booming
Th e Trenchless Technology Center
(TT C) at Louisiana Tech University is in
the midst of the most active research year
of its existence and its Industry Advisory
Board (IAB), again, hit an all-time high
in 2022. Th e TT C has recovered from the
lull of the global pandemic in all aspects
except in-person training, which is expected
to bounce back this fall.
In 2022, the TT C has again maintained
its role as a leader in trenchless
education and research and is increasing
its impact in the areas of industry workforce
development and training. Th e
TT C continued its growth in the overall
number of IAB members, even as we
entered our 33rd year of existence. Th is
lets us know there is much importance in
our mission to the trenchless technology
manufacturers, contractors, engineers
and owners we serve.
Research & development
Th is year, the TT C continues to be very
involved with its research contracts, at
one time having more than 20 active
funded projects. Th e majority continue
to be funded by industry, although
government-related projects at both the
state and federal levels increased in 2022.
Th e majority of TT C industry research
also continues to be performed
under non-disclosure agreements
(NDAs), meaning they cannot be publicized
without client consent. Despite
this fact, TT C researchers had a solid
year of peer-reviewed publications and a
few patent fi lings, as well. Th is is always
an important metric for many research
centers and associated faculty members
and researchers.
Currently, TT C has more than 15
active research projects underway, and
approximately fi ve that were completed
during the past year. Studies continued
to explore the potential impacts of CIPP
emissions from steam-cured projects.
Most recently, the team focused on
examining the impact of diff erent internal
barrier coatings on the release of styrene
while the liners are stored in the transport
truck. Led by Dr. Shaurav Alam, TT C associate
director for research, this study
was performed for NASSCO. It will be
published in late 2022 and will detail the
breakthrough times of emissions by varying
the coating materials and thicknesses
on the uncured CIPP liners.
Field validations are currently underway
with transport trucks containing actual
liners being transported to job sites
to validate the lab-scale study. Additionally,
TT C researchers led by Dr. Jason
Howell have developed a styrene mitigation
device that can be used during liner
curing to eliminate virtually all styrene
emissions from the exhaust stack. Th is
device is expected to be fully commercialized
by the end of 2022.
TT C continued its internally funded
work this year in the area of innovative
materials, led by Dr. Alam. His team has
been investigating numerous thrusts,
including innovative cementitious materials
for infrastructure components and
coatings, as well as innovative curing of
both construction materials and pipe lining
materials. Th e fi ndings are quite fascinating
and have potentially widespread
impacts for the construction industry.
TT C Researcher Dr. Sudhir Amritphale
has also been exploring various
applications
for
innovative
cementitious
and geopolymer materials with
exciting new benefi ts. Th e work recently
resulted in a large (more than $1 million)
project with the United States Air
Force, focused on the application of
these innovative solutions.
TT C is also a thought leader in the
area of non-destructive testing (NDT),
obstacle detection and its application in
a number of areas. Th is work is led by Dr.
Arun Jaganathan, associate professor of
civil engineering. For years, this work
has been applied to solve problems related
to in-pipe inspection, through wall
defect detection and obstacle detection
and avoidance.
Most of the work is carried out completely
in-house, from the theoretical
modeling to design and prototyping of
the solution. In fact, most of the modeling
is writt en in unique code, not with
commercially available soſt ware programs.
Th is is a novel capability, even
for a university research center, which
enables TT C to share with its partners to
help solve complex problems.
Most of the TT C work in this area cannot
be published due to NDAs and IP proUCONonline.com
| SEPTEMBER 2022 23
http://www.UCONonline.com
Underground Construction - September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Underground Construction - September 2022
