Underground Construction - September 2022 - 8

NEWSLINE LATEST INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
Vermeer Chair Emeritus, Former
CEO Bob Vermeer Dies at 78
Bob Vermeer, former
Vermeer CEO and current
chair emeritus, died Aug. 17
at the age of 78 after battling
cancer, Vermeer Corporation
said in a statement.
The son of Vermeer
founder Gary Vermeer, he served as the
company CEO from 1989 to 2003. He spent
over 40 years as a second-generation owner
and top executive of the family-owned and
operated company.
" Bob loved people and his passion for others
will continue to be a lasting legacy at Vermeer, "
the company said in its statement.
Under his leadership, sales at Vermeer
grew nearly 13 times. He initiated a program
to evaluate and coach dealers to higher levels
of performance through improved customer
relationships. He oversaw key advancements
in fi nance that improved equipment availability
and allowed dealers to stock inventory globally,
ultimately growing business domestically and
outside the United States.
Vermeer also held positions as the former
chairman of the Iowa Business Council and
head of the Equipment Manufacturers Institute.
In addition, he was a member and offi cer
of several boards, including Central College
Board of Trustees, Dordt College Board, Calvin
Theological Seminary Board of Trustees and the
Pella Chamber of Commerce. In 2016, he was
inducted into the AEM Hall of Fame.
Vermeer founded the Vermeer Scholarship
Program more than 30 years ago with his wife
Lois and brother Stan. He was also responsible
for establishing the " Spirit of Caring " award,
which celebrated a Vermeer employee
each year that best exemplifi ed the merit.
He spearheaded numerous employee and
community service programs including the
Vermeer Chaplain Program and the Vermeer
Charitable Foundation Scholarship Program
Houston-Area Flood Offi cials
Consider $30 Billion
Tunnel Project
The Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD)
is considering a massive underground tunnel
project to alleviate the region's centuries-long
fl ooding, according to the Stormwater Report.
HCFCD manages stormwater on
8 SEPTEMBER 2022 | UCONonline.com
approximately 41,800 square miles of land
in the greater Houston area. Planning for the
project, which would cost around $30 billion,
began shortly after Hurricane Harvey fl ooded
more than 100,000 properties in the HCFCD
service area in 2017.
The agency recently completed the
second phase of a long-term investigation
into whether a series of eight large-diameter
stormwater tunnels located as deep as
100 feet underground would be a feasible
and cost-eff ective option.
HCFCD Assistant Director of Operations
Scott Elmer explained that while building
the proposed tunnels would be both costly
and complex in comparison to aboveground
fl ood-control measures, the project's benefi ts
would benefi t the entire HCFCD service area.
Furthermore, as available space for
aboveground infrastructure shrinks, exploring
underground options could provide new
fl exibility for stormwater management in the
region's most developed and fl ood-prone
areas. The current proposal calls for 130 miles
of underground tunnels with diameters of up
to 45 feet. These tunnels have the capacity to
collect and transport up to 6.5 billion gallons
of water at a time.
The feasibility study, which was funded
by a grant from the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, identifi ed
11 watersheds out of the 23 that encompass
HCFCD's service area where underground
tunnels would likely be more cost-eff ective
than aboveground alternatives.
Primoris Services Corporation
Acquires PLH Group
for $470 Million
Primoris Services Corporation announced that
it has completed its acquisition of PLH Group in
an all-cash transaction valued at $470 million.
Primoris, a provider of specialty contracting
services, said the transaction aligns with its
strategic focus on higher-growth, highermargin
markets and expands its capabilities in
the utility markets, including power delivery,
communications, and gas utilities.
PLH Group is a utility-focused specialty
services company. As a result of the acquisition,
the majority of PLH operations will be
incorporated into Primoris' Utilities Segment,
with the remaining operations going into the
Energy/Renewables and Pipeline segments.
" The addition of PLH is an important step
in enhancing both the size and scale of our
operations in the Power Delivery and Gas
Utilities markets, " said Primoris president and
CEO Tom McCormick.
California Submits Proposal
for 45-Mile Water Tunnel
A new plan to reroute how water moves from
wetter Northern California to drier Southern
California would ferry some of it through a
single, 45-mile underground tunnel, wrapping
around the state's existing water delivery
system and dumping it into the main aqueduct
that fl ows south to vast swaths of farmland
and millions of people.
The proposal calls for construction of one
tunnel to take water from the Sacramento
River, the state's largest, to the California
Aqueduct for delivery further south. It's scaled
back from a two-tunnel plan and the latest
iteration of a project that has been talked
about and planned in some form, but never
constructed, for about half a century.
State water offi cials say a tunnel is badly
needed to modernize the state's water
infrastructure in the face of climate change,
which scientists say is likely to cause both
prolonged droughts and major deluges of rain
and snow. It would also better shield the state's
water supply from the risk of an earthquake that
could cause levees to crumble and ocean salt
water to fl ood into the system.
Though California is in the third year of a
punishing drought, it saw record rainfall last
October and another major dump of rain and
snow in December, some of which the state was
unable to capture.
Offi cials did not release a price tag. A prior
estimate for a diff erent single-tunnel route put it
at about $16 billion. It would be paid for by water
agencies that contract with the state to use it.
Dredging Company Fined
$1 Million for CWA Violations
After Nicking Oil Pipeline
A Houston dredging company has been
ordered to pay a $1 million fi ne for an oil
spill that occurred when a subcontractor cut
through an oil pipeline during barrier island
restoration work off Louisiana in 2016.
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company,
which describes itself as the nation's largest
dredging company, was sentenced for
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Underground Construction - September 2022

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