One of my top priorities as NASSCO’s executive director is to work with other industry associations that align with our mission to set standards for the assessment, maintenance and rehabilitation of underground infrastructure. One of the ways we do this is by building partnerships with those associations to allow us to expand NASSCO’s training programs here in North America, and internationally.
Over the past year, I have had the pleasure of working with Trevor Gosatti, executive director of the International Society for Trenchless Technology, to explore ways to provide guidance on the proper inspection of trenchless technologies throughout the world. Last October, NASSCO and ISTT came to a formal agreement that will allow ISTT to coordinate the training of NASSCO’s Inspector Training Certification Program in designated countries.
This is an exciting chapter in the life of ITCP. Since its inception, NASSCO has offered separate courses: one in the proper inspection of CIPP, and the other on the topic of manhole rehabilitation. We recognized that there was some redundancy between the two courses, so this year we will blend this curriculum into one comprehensive course. This will allow us to include optional modules on other technologies including grouting and pressure pipe rehabilitation.
NASSCO also continues its partnership with WRc, upon which our Pipeline Assessment Certification Program codes were developed. The current step in this process of expanding PACP is for our training director, Laurie Perkins, P.E., to become trained in WRc’s Manual of Sewer Condition Classification to give her a better understanding of that program. Concurrently, Peter Henley, WRc’s Head of pollution and flooding reduction, recently achieved his PACP/LACP/MACP certification. As I like to say, soon we will all speak the same language!
These partnerships are just the beginning. My hope is to continue developing relationships with NASTT, and we are on the right path. We recently agreed to co-promote NASTT’s Lateral Good Practices Course and NASSCO’s Building Sewer and Drain Inspection Program. The two courses complement each other and will give lateral professionals a well-rounded education on the proper inspection and rehabilitation of these important systems.
We also have long-standing partnerships with the Latin American Society for Trenchless Technology and Canada’s Centre of Expertise and Research for Urban Infrastructure. These associations work hard to expand PACP throughout North, South and Central America in various languages, and each of these organizations have expressed interest in coordinating ITCP courses in their respective regions, as well.
Collaboration is one of NASSCO’s core values that I particularly embrace when it comes to partnerships with other organizations. There is no room for competition when we are all working together for one common purpose: to ensure that proper standards for underground assessment, maintenance and rehabilitation exist, are used, and are met.
