The Plastics Pipe Institute, Inc. (PPI) announced the winners of its Projects and Members of the Year program during its annual membership meeting, which was held in Scottsdale, Arizona, May 15 – 18, 2022. PPI is the major North American trade association representing the plastic pipe industry.
“Aside from the excitement of announcing the winners of our industry competition,” stated PPI President David M. Fink, “there was a true sense of delight from our more than 368 members who attended because this was the first annual membership meeting that we were able to hold in person for more than three years.”
Each year the membership reviews and votes on Project of the Year and a Member of the Year for each of the five PPI divisions - Building & Construction, Drainage, Energy Piping Systems, Municipal & Industrial, and Power & Communications. Winning projects ranged from helping three Texas rural communities restore their water supply to a drainage system for a warehouse that required more than 17 miles of pipe. The PPI Member of the Year Award is for an individual’s outstanding support and contributions to the association and the industry.
PPI winning projects and members are:
PPI Building & Construction Division Project of the Year
- This Is The Place Heritage Park, Salt Lake City, Utah
- PPI Member Company: REHAU Construction LLC (Leesburg, VA)
This Is The Place Heritage Park recreates the West as it was in the early settlement of Utah and has rides and exhibits plus meeting and wedding venues. Visitors can enjoy the beauty of the Utah winter while being introduced to the benefits of a hydronic snow and ice melting (SIM) system installed on the nearly 30,000 square foot walkway, keeping it clear and safe. More than 40,000 feet of REHAU RAUPEX pipe was used to make up the 165 loops for the system.
PPI Drainage Division Project of the Year
- Greencastle, Pennsylvania Warehouse Distribution Center
- PPI Member Company: Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (ADS), Hilliard, Ohio
A new warehouse facility in Greencastle, PA required a large amount of underground storage beneath the proposed loading and parking areas. This project had five large retention beds that included more than 17 miles of ADS N-12® corrugated HDPE pipe, as well as fittings, gaskets, Nyloplast drains/grates and FlexStorm inlet filters. The need for the underground, watertight system was due to the karst geology of the area and the vast impervious area of some 83 acres.
PPI Energy Piping Systems Division Project of the Year
- Frontier Natural Gas, Elkin, NC
- PPI Member Companies: Performance Pipe (Plano, TX), and The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, MI)
At the request of Frontier Natural Gas, Performance Pipe and Dow collaborated and expedited the commercialization of a solid yellow, bimodal PE4710 option, DriscoPlex® 8400 Series Gas Distribution Pipe. The utility used more than 50,000 feet of the new pipe in its 100-psi gas distribution system. The bimodal PE4710 pipe provided the improved physical properties Frontier needed.
PPI Municipal & Industrial Division Project of the Year
- Saving Texas Water Supply, Red River Basin and Aspermont, Texas
- PPI Member Companies: The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, MI), Pipeline Plastics LLC (Westlake, TX), Modern Dispersions, Inc. (Leominster, MA) and McElroy Manufacturing, Inc. (Tulsa, OK).
Winter storm Uri that hit Texas did more than bring record setting cold temperatures. It froze and snapped potable water lines, stopping water from flowing to the three rural communities of Carey, Northfield and Aspermont, south east of Amarillo. The broken water pipe problem was solved by the emergency efforts of a group of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe companies, and PPI. Dow donated the resin to make the pipe. Pipeline Plastics, which has several manufacturing plants in western Texas, contributed the manufacturing end. Modern Dispersions provided the carbon black, a key ingredient added to the resin, and McElroy Manufacturing, whose fusion equipment was used, provided the training for the Carey/Northfield project.
PPI Power & Communications Division Project of the Year
- Data Center
- PPI Member Company: WL Plastics (Ft. Worth, TX)
For a new data center, PPI member company, WL Plastics, provided 165,000 feet of four-inch diameter DR 11 orange solid wall HDPE conduit that was installed by pulling 24 conduit strings at the same time in 400-foot segments using horizontally directional drilling (HDD). The HDD installation was possible due to the flexibility of the conduit, and necessary because of the many environmental barriers and a very short installation timeframe. This project demonstrates how multiple strands can be pulled at once, reducing disruptions to the environment, traffic, creek systems and life around the installation site.
PPI Members of the Year
PPI Building & Construction Division Member of the Year
- Mike Casavant - HeatLink
PPI Drainage Division Member of the Year
- Greg Bohn - Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc.
PPI Energy Piping Systems Division Member of the Year
- Greg Goble - RW Lyall
PPI Municipal & Industrial Division Member of the Year
The Municipal & Industrial Divisional Appreciation Award was presented to each of the 17 PPI members serving as AWWA C901, AWWA C906 and M55 Subcommittee members.
Ata Ciechanowski, NSF International
Dan Pavlovic, Infra Pipe Solutions
Donna Stoughton, WL Plastics Corp.
Doug Keller, LyondellBasell Industries
Dustin Langston, WL Plastics Corp.
Gilbert Garcia, JM Eagle
Gerry Groen, Infra Pipe Solutions
Harvey Svetlik, Global Polyethylene Pipe Consultant
Heath Casteel, Performance Pipe
Jeff Wright, Georg Fischer Central Plastics
Jim Johnston, McElroy Manufacturing
Larry Gill, IPEX
Mai Huyhnh, JM Eagle
Mike Whitehouse, ISCO Industries
Stephen Boros, Pipeline Plastics
Steve Sandstrum, Borealis
White Jee, Sasol Chemicals NA
PPI Power & Communications Division Member of the Year
- David Gerstetter - UL, LLC
