KC Company Invests in Future of Sewer Rehabilitation Technology

TWS Technical, Inc. combines environmental experience, new technology and capital to help cities with massive sewer assessment and rehabilitation projects. For over 25 years, William Session has represented clients in a wide variety of environmental law cases.

From multi-defendant Superfund enforcement actions to cases involving federal, state and local environmental compliance, Mr. Session has seen monumental changes in environmental law.  But it was the action by the Environmental Protection Agency against our nation’s cities to improve our decaying sewer infrastructure that convinced Mr. Session to move underground.

In 2007 Session formed TWS Technical Services, a company devoted to the inspection, assessment and repair of our nation’s pipelines and underground utilities.  Shortly after forming TWS, Session purchased the only high-definition digital image capture system in use in the United States – vastly improving the assessment process of underground pipeline systems.

European cities and utility contractors have employed this 21st century technology for years but U.S. companies have not. High-definition pipeline inspection systems can more than double the per-day inspection area and inspect pipelines for 30 percent less than conventional video systems – all while producing an image quality six times greater than any other system.  The faster, more accurate data can help cities model and predict future pipeline defects and conditions with unequaled precision.

“EPA mandates to cities demand that progress be made on sewer improvements,” said Session.  “Whether these improvements take 25 years or more, it is imperative that, today, we find better, faster, more accurate ways to tackle our massive sewer overhaul projects.”

In addition to performing high-definition pipeline inspection, TWS also provides heavy civil construction and has been involved in recent projects at the CenterPoint Intermodal Center in Grandview, Mo., the Schlitterbahn project in Kansas City, Kan., and the Citadel project in Kansas City, Mo.  TWS has also deployed high definition image scanning of pipeline systems as close as Plattsburg, Mo., and in-and-around metropolitan Atlanta, Ga., which has one of the most massive sewer projects underway. Most recently, TWS acquired Pipeline Maintenance, Inc., a company that specializes in subsurface utility locating, designating and consulting services.  The acquisition enables TWS to locate, identify, map and assess everything around a sewer pipe as well as inside of it.

GIS-Centric Pipeline Asset Management is the industry jargon commonly used to explain the ability to accurately locate and map a city’s sewer system.  TWS has added a new dimension to the process, high capacity modeling.  The detail and precision with which TWS can inspect and video miles upon miles of city sewer will be the greatest asset engineers and planners will have as they begin the massive overhaul process.  Cities and other utility operators will now have a tool that will identify and forecast cost saving measures with greater reliability than ever before. When pipeline rehabilitation decisions carry price tags in the hundreds of millions of dollars, this modeling tool will prove its merit in this country as it has in Europe for several years.

For Session, his environmental law firm and TWS – the mission is the same:  Help our nation solve our wastewater challenges in an economical and environmental friendly way.

About TWS Technical, Inc.
Founded in 2007 by Kansas City environmental attorney William Session, TWS Technical Services (TWS) has a new vision for construction services in the 21st century.  From innovative technologies for utility infrastructure locating, inspection, assessment, repair and rehabilitation, to major site preparation and utility installation – TWS is leading the industry with disciplined strategy and uncommon diversity.  A Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), TWS is currently engaged in heavy civil construction and pipeline inspection projects in the greater Kansas City, MO and Atlanta, GA metropolitan areas.