2026 GRAND CHAMPIONS of Fusion and INFUSION26 trip winners announced

by Larissa Copeland
Posted in Articles & Job Stories, Champion of Fusion, CONNECTIONS, Featured in this months CONNECTIONS email
This article was featured in the July 15, 2026 issue of McElroy Connections.

It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for: our 2026 Grand Champions of Fusion have been chosen!

Congratulations to domestic winners JAKE DUHAIME and TYLER RISNER, along with international winners DIEGO VILLEGAS VILCHES (Chile), FERNANDO GUIJARRO (Mexico), and BRETT CARTON (Australia)!

JAKE DUHAIME

A construction site with large metal pipes, a crane lifting a pipe, and an excavator in the background, all under a bright sun and clear sky.
A construction site with large pipes and fittings laid out in a trench, surrounded by dirt and concrete barriers, with buildings and a fence in the background.
Large metal pipes being installed in a trench at a construction site, with machinery and a fence visible under a bright sky.
A construction site with large metal pipes being installed underground, a red valve in the foreground, and a worker wearing a safety vest and helmet standing in the background.
A large black pipe is held in the foreground at a construction site with trucks, trailers, equipment, and a cloudy sky in the background. The ground is gravel and dirt.
A construction site with a deep trench, exposed piping, gravel, heavy machinery, and workers in safety gear. Concrete barriers and fences line the sides; a railway track and industrial buildings are visible in the background.

On this 10-inch waterline project in south Boston, Jake and his team fused 10″x10″x6″ tees for fire hydrants that, in all, consisted of roughly 1,300 feet of 10″ DIPS. The project had to be completed as quickly as possible because it was taking place in an active train yard.

The trench work, combined with the pipe’s weight, made the work a challenge, but Jake and the other fusion technicians completed the job in about two weeks.

TYLER RISNER

A construction site with a long trench containing several black pipes and a yellow pipe. Excavators and vehicles are in the background, and piles of dirt are alongside the trench under a clear blue sky.
A concrete room with several pipes protruding from the walls, tools, and equipment on the floor, including a welding machine, cables, and pipe fittings scattered around.
A worker in a trench installs large black pipes in a sandy construction site, with trees and parked cars visible in the background.
A small green machine sits on sandy ground near long pipes, with large barns or industrial buildings and a blue sky with clouds in the background.
A yellow excavator lifts a long pipe near rows of solar panels at a construction site under a clear blue sky. Dirt and machinery are visible in the foreground.
Several black pipes with white caps are set vertically in the ground in front of a building with gray bricks. The area is covered with black plastic and surrounded by dirt and sand.

Tyler began installing underground HDPE piping on this dairy expansion project in July 2025. The project is a major expansion and remodel of an active dairy farm, with an anticipated completion date in summer 2027. Key additions include an 875′ x 675′ free-stall barn, multiple maternity barns, and a new state-of-the-art 120-cow GEA rotary milking parlor, which is scheduled to begin operation on September 1, 2026.

As of the time of Tyler’s submission, the project had utilized approximately 1,000 feet of 1″ IPS DR11, 4,000 feet of 2″ IPS DR11, 12,000 feet of 4″ IPS DR11, 1,800 feet of 6″ IPS DR11, 21,000 feet of 6″ IPS DR21, and 2,500 feet of 8″ IPS DR11 HDPE pipe. An additional contractor installed approximately 800 feet of 12″ DIPS DR21 pipe.

Multiple fusion methods and equipment have been used throughout the project, including the Pit Bull® 14 and TracStar® 28. Although Tyler’s company first began working with HDPE in April 2025, he was selected as the sole employee to learn and lead HDPE installation. While transitioning from 6″ to 8″ pipe presented new challenges, particularly when fusing 8″ tees with the TracStar 28, the experience has expanded my knowledge and skills. I also learned to overcome alignment challenges associated with long-sweep 90-degree fittings, achieving precise riser placement within 1/4 inch tolerance.

The largest challenge has been working on an operational dairy farm that cannot tolerate water interruptions. Because the farm milks 3,000 cows three times daily, shutdown windows are extremely limited, requiring new systems to be installed around existing infrastructure rather than replacing it outright. Once the expansion is complete, the facility will support 8,000 cows milked three times per day, allowing the old plumbing systems to be removed.

DIEGO VILLEGAS (CHILE)

Close-up of agricultural machinery with yellow hoses, control valves, and a mounted tablet displaying a graph on the screen, likely monitoring equipment performance in a field setting.
A large excavator lifts several pipes using straps at a dusty construction site, while a compact pipe fusion machine sits nearby. Sunlight shines behind the equipment, casting shadows and creating a bright, backlit scene.
A construction site with heavy machinery: a green pipe layer on the left, a large yellow earthmover in the background, and a long pipe lying on the ground under a clear blue sky.
A close-up of a McElroy machine fusing a large pipe at a construction site, with dump trucks and mountains visible in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

Diego’s photos come from Chile, where he performed fusion work on a 12-inch, DR 7.4 acidified discharge line for a copper leach heap irrigation project. This job took place on a mine in Antofagasta.

FERNANDO GUIJARRO (MEXICO)

Workers in safety vests operate heavy machinery to weld large black pipes under a blue canopy at a construction site, with hills and power lines visible in the background.

Fernando submitted this photo of a 9km pipeline that needed to be quickly fused for a mine in Sonora, Mexico. After seeing the Tritan® 560 at work, Fernando’s team knew the machine could help optimize both the operation cost and time required for fusion work.

The project engineers were so pleased with the results that they added more fused HDPE to their project plans.

BRETT CARTON (AUSTRALIA)

Large white pipelines run through a dirt trench at a construction site under a clear blue sky, with barriers and equipment visible in the background.
A yellow excavator lifts a large white pipe at a construction site, with another crane and pipes in the background on a sunny day.
Large white pipes being installed at an industrial site, with workers and machinery present; two large storage tanks and cloudy skies are seen in the background.

Brett’s submissions come from the Iron Bridge Magnetite Project, a large-diameter HDPE fusion job in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

As part of the ongoing construction and expansion works at Iron Bridge, Brett’s team at PPS Water Group was brought into complete HDPE fusions throughout the operation, including plant infrastructure, pond installations, and port-side works. The project involved the installation of large-diameter HDPE piping used for mine process water, slurry handling, and associated water management systems.

The team utilized four McElroy TracStar® 900 fusion machines during the project. Having used McElroy equipment for more than 18 years, the team selected the TracStar 900 because of its mobility, productivity, and suitability for large-diameter mining applications. The machines’ self-propelled design proved particularly valuable when working around trenches and confined work areas.

The project also highlighted the importance of digital quality assurance. DataLogger® technology was utilized throughout the project as a contractual requirement, providing comprehensive weld records and full traceability of fusion parameters. The ability to document machine settings, fusion data, and operator information helped ensure quality compliance while providing long-term accountability for every joint installed.

The Iron Bridge development itself is unique in scale. In addition to the plant infrastructure and water management systems, the operation includes a 135 km concentrate pipeline connecting the mine to Port Hedland. PPS Water Group also assisted another contractor with welding portions of the HDPE liner pipe used within this pipeline system, supplying both personnel and additional TracStar 900 machines to support the work.

As we close out another fantastic Champions of Fusion contest year, we’d once again like to thank everyone who participated – whether you submitted a photo, discussed entries on our social media channels, or even encouraged those in your network to take part. Our mission – to improve the world through improved infrastructure – wouldn’t be possible without the tireless efforts of our “boots on the ground” technicians and operators.

Please continue to submit your jobsite photos and stories to our CHAMPIONS OF FUSION PORTAL. Entries received past June 15, 2026 will automatically be rolled into our 2027 contest, and we’ll begin promoting that through our various social media platforms in the near future.

If you weren’t selected this year, please continue to enter! A previous entry does not disqualify you from entering again, and while the competition is fierce for our grand prize winners we are proud to showcase all of our qualifying entries.

Again, congratulations to our winners, and to everyone who participated! Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get back to doing what we do best: making the world a better place, one fused joint at a time!

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