JOHN NEWELL: PIPE BURSTING SPECIALIST

FERRIS – John Newell, president of NO-DIGTEC LLC in Ferris, said first and foremost he is not only a contractor, but also an educator.

His company specializes in pipe bursting, which in short is a “well-established trenchless method that is widely used for the replacement of deteriorated pipes with a new pipe of the same or larger diameter,” Newell explains.

“Pipe bursting is an economic pipe replacement alternative that reduces disturbance to business and residents when it is compared to the open cut technique.”

Newell ended up in Ferris when his company relocated in 2017 after 20 years in the Dallas area.

NO-DIGTEC LLC is now a member of the Ferris Chamber of Commerce, and active in area events too.

Newell has worked in several cities in the area to much success he says. After all, what he does gets the job done fast and efficiently.

“The positives in the cities is the lack of disruption for the residents and speed in which we can replace water and wastewater piping in neighborhoods and along busy streets,” he explains.

Some of the company’s bigger challenges are the dry utilities such as gas, telecom and fiber optics, which have been installed above the wet utilities the company works on.

“Though our technology eliminates 85 to 90-percent of the excavation, we do have minimal excavations on our projects, and sometimes we have to work around the other utilities,” Newell said.

In fact, one of the hardest jobs he has done in the area was a pipe replacement project for Trinity River Authority. The company was asked to upsize over 6,000 LF of existing 24" reinforced concrete pipe up to 32", & 34" high-density PolyEthylene.

“The pipe ran along a creek and crossed under the creek twice where it was concrete encased – the project also went through a nature preserve and park, and behind a residential neighborhood,” Newell says. “There were lots of big old trees we had to protect and preserve where we were required to put down six-inches of mulch and then 8' x 20' timber mats made of 12" x 12" timbers as we drove heavy equipment near the trees to protect the tree roots.”

Other areas Newell says his company troubleshoots include the replacement of aging infrastructure piping in numerous situations, older neighborhoods without disturbing mature landscaping, heavy traffic areas, wildlife preserves, parks, along creeks, under existing paved areas, under railroad tracks and even golf courses, to name a few.

Newell makes sure the job is done right though and he says he is rarely in the office, preferring to be in the field while also teaching.

“My usual day consists of going to cities and engineering offices to meet with engineers, municipal directors, and consultants to discuss the possibility of using the trenchless technology of pipe bursting to replace aging infrastructure piping they may have in the city.”

He lectures every semester at UTA to the senior engineering class about trench-less technology along with speaking at various utility conferences throughout the year around the country.

“And then there are always the issues that arise on jobsites that require meeting with city engineers to discuss solutions for unknown issues from when the project was designed,” he concludes.