The 2019 Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport Show began Wednesday in Indianapolis with Education Day. Today the show’s Marketplace will open its doors.

As the massive hall at the Indiana Convention Center was getting set up on Wednesday, many of the newest hydroexcavation trucks were already on the show floor getting shined up for opening day.

“Over the years I’ve seen more and more vacuum excavators at the show and now this year there are many I want to check out, as well as all of the stuff at Ditch Witch,” says Clint Hargraves, a general manager at an underground utility construction company in New Jersey.

Hargraves’ company is exploring different ways to diversify and he knew that attending the show this week would provide opportunities to see what options are available.

“Right now we just do hydrovac work,” Hargraves says. “I’d like to take a look at directional drilling or expanding our fleet of trucks to smaller ones or even trailers to get into more urban areas.”

While he wasn’t planning on attending many educational courses, there were a couple Hargraves said he was interested in going to, such as one focused on cross bore detection. 

“It’s a common concern in a lot of areas now with so much going underground,” Hargraves says. “It’s always good to get a refresher course on it.”

The show floor opens at 9 a.m. EST today and runs until 5 p.m. with live demos also taking place throughout the day at Lucas Oil Stadium.