Horizontal Directional Drilling

They use them lot around here--specifically for FIOS vinyl/rubber cables....

They are pretty neat--but messy to use and a lot of manpower involved....

They pump water along with the drilling bore's to stay cool, I suppose---and every so often have to dig a hole for like-sight of line...As the power ram reaches it's limits--they pull it back and add more length..

Then they put the borer -thing on the machine that makes the whole bigger....

It takes a whole truckload of pipe extensions, sometimes, to get where they want to go. Muddy mess @ both ends if it's wet at all.
Here -also, I've noticed mostly sub-contractors to the local utility company, and most labor is , shall we say 'from south of the border"..
NO other way to describe it....:dunno:

Still--neat concept and I'm sure--cheaper and quicker than digging trenches and back-filling..

glenn

I only see three or four guys here and they're using something about like this:




Punching right through the turf, no trench.

Pipe extends up to the surface at both ends of another one they did down the road. I'm guessing another contractor will be in to dig down to the water lines and make the connections.

I spent all last summer in Chicago doing the ties ins for gas lines behind on of those. A lot quicker than trenching. They only have two man crews on the actual drill. An operator sits on the drill and a laborer walks in front with a locator box directing him which way to manipulate the drill.

There would be a separate crew going ahead of the drill opening up tie in pits and also exposing existing utilities so they weren't drilled into.