BULGARIAN ENGINEERS WIN FIRST PRIZE FOR MOST SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT IN THE WORLD

Bulgarian engineers received the first prize for the most significant innovation in the world in the sphere of trenchless technologies for the period 2014-2015. The team managed to renovate half-destroyed pipelines with very large sizes in Kazakhstan. The specialists received the NO-DIG Award from the International Society for Trenchless Technology /ISTT/ at an official ceremony in WOW Convention Center - Istanbul, Turkey, on 29 September.

The specialists from the company were the only ones who took the challenge to implement the extremely complicated project in the town of Zhezkazgan, Republic of Kazakhstan - for rehabilitation of pipelines with extremely large sizes (diameter up to 2240 mm). The facilities constructed over fifty years ago had numerous leakages and because they lie under buildings, it was impossible to replace them using traditional open cut methods.
To restore the functionality of the strategic pipelines, the Bulgarian team applied the trenchless technology Cured-in-place Pipe, known also as Phoenix. Especially for the project, the Bulgarian specialists designed and produced all machines and equipment necessary for the rehabilitation of the enormous facilities in the Kazakhstan Thermal Power Plant and completed the project successfully and on time.
The Phoenix technology involves inserting a flexible hose with a mixed PET felt and glass-fiber structure into the old pipe. The vinyl-ester resin, used to impregnate the hose in advance, cures as soon as it is installed in the deteriorated pipeline. The result is a new, structurally strong pipe, with the old one acting as a formwork.
The awarded Bulgarian engineers have been developing and applying trenchless technologies for construction and rehabilitation of underground pipelines for over 15 years. The owner of the facilities in Kazakhstan - Kazakhmys Energy - Kazakhstan, contacted them after he had spent years searching for a solution for "saving" the pipelines that hindered the normal operation of the plant, endangered the life of the people working in it and lead to economic losses.
The NO-DIG Award ("Trenchless" Award) was founded in 1986 by the International Society for Trenchless Technology (www.istt.com) - the only organization of academics, manufacturers and contractors from the field of trenchless technologies in the world.

The award is granted for achievements in 4 different categories, connected to the development and application of trenchless technologies around the world:

academic research, training course
trenchless project completed
new machine, tool, system or technique
paper/research by a student or young professional from the academic sphere

The NO-DIG Award was handed to Stefan Zhelyazkov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Association for Trenchless Technologies (www.batt-bg.org) and Executive Director of the awarded company - Stroitelna Mehanizatsia AD, Kazanlak (www.cm-bg.eu).