John Castle, former Executive Secretary of ISTT reflects on Dr Downey’s sustained and valuable contribution to the underground industry.

Dec has been a major player in the industry for many, many years. He was at the first No-Dig in London in 1985 and has an extensive number of contacts worldwide. Dec was in at the beginning of cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) when it was taken over by Insituform from the inventor Eric Wood. Dec was the Insituform Director for Asia everywhere east of India when I met him in 1998, and it was shortly afterwards that he was persuaded to become the UK member of the Executive Sub Committee (ESC). At a time when the Trustees were insisting that the Chairman of the ISTT was not from the commercial sector – rather an academic or government official – Dec had to bide his time until the fear subsided and he was able to take over from Menno Henneveld as Chairman in Rome in 2007.

The ISTT has been very fortunate in having a Chairmen who suited their periods in office. Rolf Bielecki was a showman and oversaw a large increase in numbers. Gert Fischer was an economist and put right the ISTT budget imbalance by reducing costs, just in time for when they were needed. Ray Sterling introduced elections and democracy and Menno was an organisation man who introduced best business practice (and monthly conference calls for the ESC).

Dec followed Menno as a change manager. He took the Plan for Change, developed while Menno was Chairman, and put it into practice. Dec oversaw the recruitment of my replacement, John Hemphill; kept an eye on, and closed the deal for the replacement of the Membership Secretary, now Kyoko and, most importantly, started the training courses that now take place worldwide ‘by request’. He also saw through the new policy for the International No-Dig which no longer needs a host nation which has to be affiliated to the ISTT – hence Singapore (which as a result has affiliated).

The Moscow event in 2008 and next year in Berlin have been co-located with another event so that the ISTT can get the numbers without the risk – another innovation introduced by Dec. He also oversaw the change of magazine contract from Benjamin Media to Great Southern Press without causing offence to the NASTT – no mean achievement. He has also empowered the ESC with better consultation and ISTT members really feel they contribute.

So Dec too has been the perfect Chairman for his time in the development of the ISTT. The organisation has been streamlined, renewed and re-invigorated ready for the 21st century. It is IT savvy, focussed on training and promotion, has a world class magazine and annual international event and, at last, is safely solvent.

Dec is also very highly regarded in the industry. You can see people saying ‘If he is Chairman ISTT, then is it not time we had a society and affiliated too.' Dec’s impact will last long after he has handed over to Sam.

My time as ISTT Chairman

I attended Trenchless Construction for Utilities (No-Dig 1985) as an exhibitor (ARC Concrete Ltd) with Dr John Heavens (ISTT Technical Secretary 2001–2006). We made strenuous efforts to encourage Dr Tohyama (ISTT President 1998–2001) to participate in the keynote session and bring with him 28 delegates and ten exhibitors. We had been working in Japan with the Japan Superline Pipe Association and were keen to encourage their participation to highlight the emergence of microtunnelling as a cornerstone of Trenchless Technology.

We built up a good relationship with Ted Flaxman (Chairman Emeritus) and John James (ISTT Technical Secretary) and they encouraged me to join the UKSTT Committee and to take up a seat on the ISTT ESC, when it became available in 1998. I have all four of them, together with Colin Bland (Chairman ISTT Guarantors), to thank for encouraging me in all that I have experienced, as Vice Chairman and Chairman, these past five years. It has been a truly fulfilling experience confounding the laws of thermodynamics in that the output dramatically exceeds the input by all technical and emotional measures.

The opportunity to meet and share ideas with the affiliated members and the visitors to their numerous trenchless events is simply outstanding. The work that we do can have such a major impact on the quality of life and the environment for so many people, and provides us with an interesting and satisfying livelihood; it is hard to imagine a better industry in which to spend one’s career. There have been so many highlights, one would be hard pressed to identify a single peak. Trips to Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hong Kong, France, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine and the US to discuss one’s favourite topic really takes some beating.

I believe that ISTT is now about to expand substantially and should involve itself deeply in education, training and standardisation to establish and facilitate benchmarks for excellence worldwide. This will be challenging, as it involves substantial dialogue with affiliated societies, their utility organisations and professional bodies across the globe. We are very fortunate to have a new chairman with many of the skills required to lead us in these tasks. It remains for me to do my part as immediate Past Chairman to help the team. I have particularly enjoyed the opportunity to develop and teach training modules as part of ISTT’s outreach program and I have in mind to focus in this area in addition to my business role as Chairman of Aqualiner Ltd and as a consultant in the field of CIPP. I certainly intend to be around to fulfil my obligations to ISTT and the new Chairman, even longer if given the opportunities to contribute further to UKSTT, whose committee I have rejoined this year.

- Dec Downey