From February 7th to the 9th Barbco attended and exhibited at the 28th annual Underground Construction Technology International Conference and Exhibition (UCT), in Orlando Florida. This three day event helps connect our industry’s most influential water, sewer, gas, telecom and electric contractors, owners, operators, and manufacturers through the course of the event.
Barbco was pleased to see plenty of good friends from various contractors and vendors alike! Barbco’s booth was set up at the entrance of the exhibit hall which was great for traffic. Their booth encompassed literature regarding their equipment such as their ABM’s and Tri-Bor, hats and shirts, stickers, and a posterboard and a monitor showcasing IS Machines HDD World Record Offshore Crossing using a Barbco BD500 horizontal directional drill. The reason Barbco was showcasing this company’s project to the audience was not only because they used a Barbco drill, but also because they were finalists in the 2023 Underground Construction Awards (UCA’s) for Energy Pipeline Project of the year. Along with two other contractors, IS Machines HDD was a finalist in their category. There were 12 categories in total. In short, IS Machines HDD broke the world record for the longest successful offshore crossing. This project took place in the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Not only was this job a world record at 7000 feet, the amount of ingenuity and precise planning that is needed to complete a project of this caliber is staggering.
The UCA’s were held on the evening of February 8th, following the UCT show. The evening began with a cocktail hour then dinner was served. Following the dinner the speaker began to announce the winners of each category.
When it came down to it, unfortunately IS Machines did not win the overall Energy Pipeline Project of the Year, however this does not lessen the magnitude of the successful crossing.
Regardless of them winning or not, it shows that with proper planning and the right equipment, we can continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in this industry.
We want to give a huge thanks to everybody from Underground Construction for putting on this event and to our domestic dealers Trenchless Rental Solutions and U.S. Shoring & Equipment Co. for coming to represent Barbco.
