CH - Schönbühl, 22 - International Association of Concrete Drillers ...

I●V●B●S ● Internationaler Verband der Betonbohr- und Sägeunternehmungen
I●A●C●D●S ● International Association of Concrete Drillers and Sawers
A●I●E●F●S●B ● Association Internationale des Entreprises de Forage et de Sciage du Béton
Communiqué
For immediate release
Contact:Daniel Trachsel, IACDS secretary, phone: +41 31 858 22 20, e-mail: info@iacds.org
Muenchenbuchsee, Switzerland, January 20, 2011
A Diamond Award is Forever
Muenchenbuchsee / Switzerland - The International Association of Concrete Drillers and Sawers
(IACDS) is pleased to announce the winners of the Diamond Award, an international competition
for excellence and innovation in the field of concrete cutting. The winners have been presented
with their awards at a press conference on January 18, 2011, during the World of Concrete trade
show and exhibition in Las Vegas, USA.
The gold award in this competition is awarded to Tondin srl of Italy for the company's
outstanding work in the tunnels of a rail system that connects Bologna to Florence. The project
involved large quantities of concrete cutting over a two-year period to increase safety in the tunnel
system. The cutting contractor used a great deal of innovation to perform some of the work, using
mechanical arms mounted to the front of an excavation vehicle with wall saw and chain saw
attachments to cut the tunnel walls.
Taking the silver award is Thayr s.l. of Spain, for its work on a wharf expansion project at the
Port of Huelva in the Southeast region of the country. The cutting work was performed
underwater using diamond wire sawing techniques to cut and remove 26 reinforced concrete
pilings that were 4 feet in diameter.
The bronze award has been won by D-Drill Master Drillers Ltd. of the United Kingdom for the
contractor’s care and precision in removing a 100-year-old tile mural with a wire saw during a
hospital renovation. A custom-made 110-volt wire saw was engineered to complete the job that
had strict noise and vibration tolerances.
The Diamond Award competition allows concrete sawing and drilling industry professionals to
present their most complex and innovative projects. Entries were judged on the degree of difficulty,
planning, complexity, innovation and the quality of the work produced to ensure project success.
Following a detailed review of each entry, the judging panel representing members of various
country-wide sawing and drilling association chose the winning projects.
The 2011 awards included entries from countries like Japan, Italy, Mexico and the U.K. among
others. The competition began in 2000 in Germany and award ceremonies are rotated around the
globe in conjunction with major exhibitions.
All entries and those of earlier awards are available at the IACDS website.
# # #
The International Association of Concrete Drillers and Sawers (IACDS) is an international trade
association of sawing and drilling associations from the concrete construction and renovation
industry. Its mission is to provide an international union and cooperation of trade associations to
Präsident / president / président: Peter White, D-Drill (Master Drillers) Ltd., Shilton Ind. Est, Bulkington Road, Shilton, Coventry CV7 9J, UK
Tel +44 24 7661 2858, Fax 24 7661 5425, Email peterwhite@d-drill.co.uk
Sekretariat / Secretary / Secrétariat: Oberdorfstrasse 40, CH-3053 Muenchenbuchsee
Tel +41 31 858 22 20 ◦ Fax +41 31 858 22 21 ◦ info@iacds.org ◦ www.iacds.org

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support and promote professional development of professional sawing and drilling contractors and
their methods. This umbrella organization of sawing and drilling associations was formed in 1995
under the leadership of the country associations in Germany, Switzerland and the United States.
Today nine national associations are members of IACDS: Australia, Austria, Germany, Japan,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. Further information:
www.iacds.org