Executive Secretary John Castle of the International Society for Trenchless Technology and Roland Herr, head editor of TIS, awarded this year's Excell bore prize winners to three German companies — Paasch of Damendorf (1st Prize), Ewald Beermann of Risenbeck (2nd Prize), Max Wild of Berkheim-Illerbachen (3rd Prize).
A special prize was awarded to the city works in Schwerte for its patent-pending invention of avoiding twists when pulling pipe bundles. This method enables up to five pipes, when installing gas, water, power, telecommunication and broadband cables, to be brought into place parallel, in position, and in exactly defined distances in one working step inside the bore path.
Tracto Technik, based in Darmstadt, Germany, created the prize to award contractors for excellence and innovation in horizontal direction drilling (HDD) projects. The first prize, worth g5,000, was awarded to Paasch for the trenchless installation of a 225-mm PE drinking water pipe from the mainland through the mud-flats to the Hallig North beach moor over five kilometres. Paasch used a cable plow, manufactured by Georg Föckersperger, and a HDD drilling unit for the connection at Hallig and on the mainland.
