Category: News

“1) Plan your work and work your plan. 2) A bad decision is better than indecision. 3) You are only as successful as the people you are leading.”
Daniel was raised in Carmel, IN. He attended Our Lady of Mt. Carmel grade school and Carmel High School. At Carmel High School, he was class president and student body president. He grew up in the underground boring and tunneling business, working summers and school breaks with the same company as his father, Len Liotti. Daniel followed his father’s footsteps by attending Purdue University, where his father also graduated with a civil engineering degree in 1957. His sisters, Jennifer and Diane, also attended Purdue.
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One of my favorite quotes is from Theodore Roosevelt which goes: “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” This statement exemplifies the most critical aspect of safety and the heart of achieving safety success.
The cliché “Safety starts at the top,” — while critically important — simplifies how safety success is obtained and allows an easy excuse for failure. Often, the owner, CEO, or president subscribe themselves to be the safety driver for the company. Indeed, most individuals in these positions understand the significance of safety to a successful business and gladly assume or feel they need to assume, this designation.
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Mortimer the Sewer Rat, the coveted prize of NASTI’s No-Dig Show Educational Fund Auction and famed symbol of trenchless education, has been retired. He was nine. To NASTI members and trenchless professionals, Mortimer has become the headlining act of the No-Dig Show auction each year, with trenchless companies bidding on the stuffed rat as the final auction prize of the night. The demand for Mortimer has result­ed in thousands of dollars donated to NASTI’s Educational Fund, with the money benefitting the Society’s 18 student chapters and numerous education initiatives. Over the years, Mortimer has also traveled the trenchless construction world, making regular ap­pearances on projects with construction crews. Mortimer first entered the spotlight in 2007. During the Western Society for Trenchless Technology’s No-Dig Annual Conference, Dr. Sam Ariaratnam, WES TI chair at the time, organized a Jeopardy game for exhibitors during the conference reception in which ex -hibitors created questions and the participant with the most points won a prize. Jan Gould of the City of Reno, purchased the rat at a Halloween store, created his safety vest and presented him to the Jeopardy game winner Glenn Boyce of McMillen Jacobs Associates. According to records, by 2009, after Akkerman, Inc. won the sewer rat at the auction, Ariaratnam suggested Akkerman give it a name, and “Mortimer” was chosen. Since then, Mortimer has been a sta­ple of the NASTI auction and the trenchless community. In 2016, Mortimer was split between Midwest Mole and Iowa Trenchless. Unfortunately, after a nine-year run and a bit too much jobsite wear and tear, Mortimer succumbed to injuries and was forced into retirement. Not to worry …
 

ALONG THE BANKS OF THE OHIO RIVER SITS THE CITY OF STEUBENVILLE, OHIO -HOME TO MORE THAN 20,000 CITIZENS, DOZENS OF HISTORIC SITES AND MUSEUMS, AND ONE LARGE SEWER PROBLEM.
Midwest Mole, a leading trenchless technology company based in Greenfield, Ind., was contracted by MWH Constructors to reline a deteriorating section of the City’s existing sewer line, starting in December 2015. City of Steubenville officials had provided CCTV footage of the sewer line that indicated it had a number of collapsing and deteriorating sections that had developed over the years and needed to be addressed.
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Relining was done upstream and downstream from the work shaft
Along the banks of the Ohio River sits the city of Steubenville, Ohio home to more than 20,000 citizens, dozens of historic sites and museums, and one large sewer problem. Midwest Mole, a leading trenchless technology company based in Greenfield, Indiana, was contracted by MWH Constructors to reline a deteriorating section of the city’s existing sewer line in December 2015. City of Steubenville officials had provided CCTV footage of the sewer line which indicated it had a number of collapsing and deteriorating sections that had developed over the years and needed to be addressed. Putting together the plan for the project, Midwest Mole, MWH Constructors and city officials determined the overall project would include the following work:

1. Bypassing a section of the existing sewer by pumping the sewage from upstream of the work area over to a different sewer line to facilitate the work.
2. Relining the 700-foot section of the sewer with 30-inch Hobas flush reline pipe.
3. Reinstating any functioning laterals.
4. Grouting the annular space between the original sewer and the liner pipe with cellular grout.
5. Reinstatement of two manholes on the site.

The plan called for Midwest Mole to install two shafts. One was for the installation of the bypass pumping operation and the second was used as the main work shaft from which the lining would commence. After the shafts were installed and the bypass operation up and running, the upstream section would be lined first. Once the upstream section was complete, the jacking frame used to install the pipes would be set up again in the opposite direction, in the same hole, so that crews could reline downstream from the main work pit. The mission of Midwest Mole is to provide clients with the most responsive, innovative and dependable trenchless technology services. Its employees take pride in working with clients from the planning stages through project execution to ensure complete satisfaction. Midwest Mole’s commitment to providing high-quality service and value engineering played a large role in this particular project as the site was located near two important businesses — LaBelle News Agency and the local Hampton Inn.

After discussing the initial plans, Midwest Mole evaluated the affected parties and, in order to limit the number of disruptions to city residents, decided it was best to propose a new plan. Since Midwest Mole is consistently looking for the best way to reduce costs and inconveniences, is committed to maintaining an open and honest line of communication with clients, and dedicated to helping affected parties understand the scope of the project at hand, they were able to create a plan that was in the best interests of all companies, crews and citizens involved. Specifically, the newly proposed plan moved the working shaft to the beginning of the relined section of sewer, located in the parking lot of LaBelle News Agency. This move allowed LaBelle News Agency to access their garage bays located on the main level, instead of restricting access to the garage bays altogether. After discussion, all parties agreed this was the approach to be taken, and set out to get the job done.

Prior to starting construction, Midwest Mole needed to observe the sewer line to determine its current condition. In order to achieve this, the bypass shaft had to be constructed and put in place in the nearby Hampton Inn parking lot. Midwest Mole then began excavation to the existing sewer line, cutting the sewer from the spring line and removing a top section in order to place in the pumps for the bypass operation. Following the construction of the shaft, the bypass pumps were installed and all flow was diverted from the sewer line and directed to a different section of the sewer. Observation of the sewer line was completed with the use of CCTV inspection and, much to everyone’s surprise, it showed the problem was more significant than initially believed. The sewer’s collapsed area posed additional concerns due to its location. Because the section of the sewer was located beneath University Blvd., Midwest Mole crews were afraid that if there was a complete collapse of the sewer line and it couldn’t be relined, the only other way to access the sewer would be by cutting open the entire section of the road. This not only posed critical safety concerns for crews and citizens, it also posed serious financial concerns to the city and its allotted budget.

“all parties were satisfied with the final results and overall execution of the project”

Due to this newfound severity of the project, Midwest Mole and MWH Constructors met with local law enforcement and city officials to discuss the situation and create a contingency plan for the potentially catastrophic event of a complete collapse of the sewer line. Press releases were written, plans were put into place, and Midwest Mole met with property owners in the potentially impacted area, local traffic providers, and the city, to inform citizens of the project’s effects on everyday life in Steubenville. From road closings, to changes in traffic routes and patterns, it was important that each citizen was aware and prepared for any potential issues and possible inconveniences.

The construction finally began on the working shaft, which measured 35 feet deep and 33 feet in diameter, and consisted of steel ring beams, wood lagging and tunnel liner plates to provide optimal stability and protection. While the shaft as being installed another completely unforeseen and deeply concerning issue was discovered: the actual size, shape and structure of the existing sewer line. Originally thought to be straight, the sewer line instead displayed curved sections giving no indication whether the rigid pipe would be able to deflect through curved sections of the sewer line.

Midwest Mole took field photographs and concluded the risk outweighed the reward inlining the sewer with the Hobas pipe. Given the excessive amount of flow the sewer facilitated, simply downsizing the pipe was out of the question. In response to the problem, the Midwest Mole crew utilized a solid wall High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe, which allowed greater deflection. It was an approved specified material for relining, and was installed without any issues—proving to be a well thought out and wise solution.

Once the HDPE was installed, the relined section of the sewer was filled with water and bulkheads were constructed at each of the four manholes, which the liner was installed in, allowing the annular space to be filled with cellular grout. After the grouting, the water was released from within the liner and the two relined manholes and functioning lateral were reinstated. Once the construction of the sewer line was completed and as the shaft was being backfilled and compacted, the ring beams, lagging and liner plates were removed until the existing ground elevation
was reached.

The final piece of the sewer line puzzle completed was asphalt restoration in the LaBelle News and Hampton Inn parking lots. Midwest Mole was dedicated to restoring the asphalt in the local businesses parking lots to a better condition than before the project began, and provided additional striping once the new pavement was laid. Once the project was completed and all ends were tied up, the vendors, city of Steubenville officials, law enforcement officials, from and the Hampton Inn and LaBelle News Agency property owners, met with Midwest Mole and MWH Constructors expressing their satisfaction with a job well done. With all parties satisfied with the final results and overall execution of the project, Midwest Mole moved off-site in early June 2016, meeting the expectations and the timeline initially laid out for the project.

Completing a project of this size and scope requires several moving pieces, including a well-advised and well-researched plan, the ability to quickly adapt to change, and the willingness to work together with all entities involved to create a successful outcome. Because of the collective efforts of Midwest Mole, MWH Constructors, the city of Steubenville officials, law enforcement officials,
LaBelle News Agency, the Hampton Inn, Franciscan University, all subcontractors and vendors, inconveniences to the citizens of Steubenville were significantly minimized.

Although many complex challenges and unforeseen issues arose throughout the construction process, the members of Midwest Mole, as well as members from MWH and the City of Steubenville, consistently showed their ability to work together, remain flexible, and handle the increasing complexity of this specific project with expertise.

Mortimer the Sewer Rat was adopted earlier this year during NASTT’s 15th Annual Educational Fund Auction by the generous folks at Midwest Mole!
He has been on the I-69 Section 5 project with them in the Bloomington, IN area. In Indiana’s first public/private project, Section 5 consisted of 21 miles of SR 37 to be rehabilitated and upgraded in Morgan and Monroe counties.

Midwest Mole Inc was contracted in June 2015 to do the bores under the highway. Over 86 bores sizes 24” and 30” have been completed. This includes the relocation of the fiber optic lines for the IU campus. An SBU was brought in to bore through the rock portions.
Stay tuned for more updates on Mortimer during his year with Midwest Mole!

Crossing the Des Plaines River Shortcrossing Provides Big Challenges
When it comes to tunneling, the City of Joliet, Illinois, may not have the wealth of experience that some other, major urban centers may have. After all, there are no subways to dig, no mountains to traverse. But that doesn’t mean it can’t tackle a tricky project. Recently, the City successfully completed a bore under the Des Plaines River as part of its program to improve water quality.
The keys to success? Proper planning, assembling a strong team, and collaboration.
At first glance, the project looked fairly routine: build an 865-ft tunnel, 111.5 in. in diameter, underneath the Des Plains River. But there was one interesting wrinkle. Due to the fact that the river was channelized in the 1920s, the eastern shaft elevation was lower than the elevation of the river. That meant that if any water from the river found its way into the tunnel, there would be a potential for large-scale flooding.
Recognizing this potential, the City worked with the contractor, Triad/Midwest Mole IV, to develop a unique pilot bore approach to verify the ground conditions along the tunnel route, ensuring that tunneling could be constructed without risk of flooding. With peace of mind, the tunnel was then successfully bored, moving Joliet one step closer to improving water quality in the Des Plaines.
Project Background
The area that is now Joliet was first settled in the 1830s and was incorporated as a city in 1852. Like in many other eastem and Midwestern cities of the day, combined sewers — containing both sanitary and storm water flows — were built in the city’s core. The Des Plaines River Crossing is part of Phase II of Joliet’s 1ong-term control plan to capture excess storm water flow and convey it to a new wet weather treatment facility.
The new tunnel will convey excess flows from the westem side of the river to the eastern side, site of the existing treatment plant as well as the future wet weather facility. The City of Joliet worked with consulting firm Strand Associates in the development of the long-term control plan, which included the construction of the tunnel.
Once the tunnel project advanced to the design phase, Mott MacDonald was brought in to perform a risk analysis and was later retained as resident engineer in a joint venture with V3.
A joint venture of Triad/Midwest Mole was the tunneling subcontractor for the project and used a contractor—refurbished Lovat RM110 IBM with a Robbins Rockhead to mine the tunnel.
“While a tunnel of this length and diameter may not be considered big within the tunneling world, for us it was a significant undertaking,” said Allison Swisher, Civil Engineer, City of Joliet. “Not only was this our first tunnel, but the potential of flooding added a level of concern going into the project.”
GZA GeoEnvironmental conducted the geotechnical exploration, which included seven borings on both land and in water. The data showed competent rock at the design tunnel elevation below the river. With the rock conditions and short length of the tunnel, drill—and-blast was thought to be the most likely construction method. However, when the five bids were opened, the lowest – submitted by Joseph J. Henderson & Son – proposed TBM tunneling.
A joint venture of Triad/Midwest Mole was the tunneling subcontractor for the project and used a contractor—refurbished Lovat RM110 TBM with a Robbins Rockhead to mine the tunnel from west to east through dolostone bedrock with expected unconfined compressive strength of about 18,000 psi. The cutting diameter of the TBM was set at 111.5 in. Aldea Services was retained as the contractor’s designer.
Joseph J. Henderson & Son constructed the launch shaft while Triad/Midwest Mole constructed the reception shaft. Shaft construction involved drilling and blasting and the installation of ring beam and lagging in overburden and rock bolts in the bedrock.
The initial plans for tunneling included drilling probe holes in advance of the excavation, but the use of a small TBM with limited face access and room for extra equipment made this approach less practicable. So, Triad/Midwest Mole proposed drilling a 6-in. pilot hole adjacent to the tunnel alignment at the elevation of the tunnel crown. The contractor built an entry seal and gate valve on the shaft wall in the event that water was encountered. Using a Vermeer 100×120 horizontal directional drill, an Inrock hammer and Inrock guidance system, Triad/Midwest Mole completed the probe to the satisfaction of owner.
“We encountered an occasional clay seem during the bore, but very little groundwater,” said Steve Abernathy, Vice President, Midwest Mole. “The ground was very consistent with what they found in the boring. We got about 6-8 gpm of water coming out of the probe hole, which gave us a high degree of confidence that we weren’t going to encounter any catastrophic flows.”
As a contingency, the contractor was required to have dewatering pumps in the shafts capable of moving 2 gpm for every 10 ft of tunnel-equal to about 1,600 gpm over the length of the tunnel.
Navigating the probe drill also presented a challenge. The City had to coordinate with the Illinois Department of Transportation to set up tracking equipment on the I-80 bridge, as well as with the Department of Natural Resources to manage boat traffic that could also interfere with navigation.
“Completing the probe drill without encountering any major inflows helped put us at ease that we would not find a fissure or connection to the river while tunneling,” Swisher said. “We were pleased with the out-of-the-box way of addressing our concems.”
Moving Out
Once the probe was completed and the project team was comfortable with proceeding with TBM tunneling, Triad/Midwest Mole launched the machine. Because the TBM was configured for hard rock with grippers, the contractor affixed a steel tube to the bottom of the shaft in which the TBM was placed. The TBM then used its grippers to grip the inside of the pipe and push its way forward. As soon as the machine had entered the rock far enough, the steel starter tubes were removed.
“The shaft was going to be used for a pump station, so it was large enough to allow launching the machine this way,” said Brian Liotti, Project Engineer, Midwest Mole. “We were able to use this approach in lieu of building a starter tunnel by drill-and-blast.”
Once underway, crews were able to advance an average of about 20-30ft per day working 11-hour shifts. Tunneling began late July 2015 and was completed on Dec. 21. At the shallowest point along the alignment, there were 24 ft of cover.
Crew placed 60-in. diameter Hobas pipe to carry wet weather flows, in addition to two 24-in. sanitary sewer pipes and two 6-in. PVC conduits, which were grouted in place using 200 psi cellular grout.
First Time Owner’s Approach
Despite the relatively short length and small diameter, the Des Plaines River Crossing was a major undertaking for the City of Ioliet. As such, the City did its due diligence in preparing for the project, engaging consultants and the contracting community to utilize best practices and maximize its chances for success.
“The City did not have experience in tunneling, but understood that tunneling under a river and flood wall carried unique risks,” said Mike Vitale, Senior Vice President and Regional U.S. Tunnel Practice Leader at Mott MacDonald. “They were proactive in seeking out specialist tunneling advice from the onset of the project and receptive to implementing recommended risk mitigation measures. The City was a great client to work for.”
Joliet undertook a risk analysis, used a geotechnical baseline report(GBR) as part of the contract documents, and employed a dispute resolution board. As it turned out, the DRB was not needed “but was a good backstop,” according to Swisher.
“The most critical element in completing this tunnel was that we were able to get the right project team involved early on,” Swisher said. “Once the team was in place, we maintained communication and everyone was able to work well together.”

When MAC Construction and Excavating, of New Albany, Ind., faced the challenge of being more than 30 ft deep and needing to cross a 175-ft wide branch off of the Ohio River for a 16-in. sewer, they knew who to call — the contractor that it has almost two miles of pilot tube experience — Midwest Mole Inc.

The project known as the Shadow Wood WWTP Elimination for the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) was designed to decommission two pump stations and the Shadow Wood Wastewater Treatment Plant. To accomplish this, a 16-in. gravity sewer had to be installed under Harrods Creek, which not only is a large creek that empties into the Ohio River, but also is a boating channel leading into a marina.

Along with soil borings that were provided for the contract, MAC Construction just completed an 80-ft deep excavation near the proposed main working pit for a large pump station on a separate contract it had for Louisville MSD. Per the test bores, the soils, at the depths of the proposed crossing under Harrods Creek, consisted of a soft gray silt on the south side of Harrods Creek and a very dense silty sand on the north side. During the installation of the 80-ft deep shaft for the pump station, flowing soils saturated with water were found in the upper levels of the excavation but the soils at the elevations of the proposed trenchless crossing were relatively dry.

Midwest Mole CEO Dan Liotti and foreman Jason Smith believed that the pilot tube method (PTM) could be used in lieu of microtunneling if the soils at the depths of the crossing were not flowing sands and water under high water pressure. Smith, who completed the third largest PTM project in the United States for MAC Construction back in 2012, had good experience using this method with flowing soils with a relatively low water head of 36 to 54 in. To be absolutely sure the PTM could be used, Midwest Mole took its own test bore rig to the site so Liotti could see and feel the ground first hand. It was confirmed that after drilling through very wet soils, the soils underlying the wet soils were more stable and would allow for the use of PTM.

Midwest Mole worked closely with Jason Holden, of Akkerman, to supply the 24-in. Akkerman Powered Cutting Head (PCH) outfitted with a double flight auger to provide extra resistance in flowing soils. Midwest Mole utilized its own Akkerman 308 GBM and outfitted it to a jacking track that would allow for the installation of 20-ft lengths of 24-in. Permalok casing.

MAC Construction installed circular steel sheeted shafts using concrete ring beams for the working pits. Also, for added insurance to prevent the upper level flowing soils from entering the pit, an additional 60-in. wide row of sheeting was installed on the outside of the shaft to allow for the installation of the entrance and reception seal along with cutting out the steel sheet piling. Once onsite, the crews went to work engineering line and grade between the pits and setting up the equipment in the shaft. After the jacking track was set up on line and grade, the soils outside the shaft were stabilized using chemical grouts to allow for cutting out the sheet piling. After stabilization of the soils, pit seals were welded in place and a couple test holes were cut out to make sure the stabilization did its job and the sheeting was cut out.

With all systems go, it was time to launch the pilot tubes and pull the second row of sheeting. After successful installation of the pilot tubes, the 11-in. auger casings were installed without incident and it was time to launch the Akkerman 24-in. PCH. Once Midwest Mole started with the PCH, it was decided to add a second shift and run around the clock to help keep jacking pressures down and keep the pipe moving under Harrods Creek.

Smith and the crew were very happy to see that the PCH made it to the receiving pit knowing that there was only 9-ft separation from the bottom of Harrods Creek to the top of the 24-in. casing. While there was some difficulty that had to be overcome bringing the PCH into the receiving pit due to a small misalignment of the seal, the crossing was a success and the 16-in. DIP was installed inside the 24-in. casing and grouted into place.