HDD
Michels Sets North American HDD Record
Michels Corporation utilized horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to drill beneath the Athabasca River in Canada and completed an industry milestone on Nov. 21. The 42-inch, 7,200-foot crossing was near Fort MacKay, about one-hour north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The 1.36-mile installation is a new..
HDD ‘Wireless Wireline’ Guidance System Introduced
Savant Wireline Guidance System Savant Technologies LLC, has made available a new “wireless wireline” guidance system for horizontal directional drilling. The Savant system can be used with large drill rigs that typically utilize conventional wireline guidance systems and also smaller machines, in..
Aegion Agrees to Acquire Underground Solutions, Inc.
Aegion has executed a definitive agreement to acquire Underground Solutions, Inc. for $85 million in cash and expects to close the transaction during the first quarter of 2016. The Company will separately pay for the discounted value of tax benefits (estimated today to be approximately $5 million) a..
The Thrills! The Chills! Ten Underground Infrastructure Stories From 2015
by Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, Art Director As 2015 quickly moves into history, let’s take a look back at the thrilling days of yesteryear and some of the underground infrastructure stories that peppered the pages of UC in 2015. There were awards given and records broken and lumps of rock and the loss o..
Laney Finds ‘Pushing’ Pipe Has Its Advantages
by Michael Reed, Contributing Editor Direct Pipe is a single-pass process Laney Directional Drilling, which last year used Direct Pipe technology to make an underground pipeline crossing through wetlands in the Northeast feasible, explained the process to attendees at a symposium on Oct. 14 in Hou..
Ring-O-Matic 550 Vacuum Excavator
Powered by an 81-hp CAT turbo diesel engine, the Ring-O-Matic 550 vacuum excavator features a 1,000-cfm blower and delivers 27-gpm at 2,700-psi up to 400-ft. with its 3/4-inch jetter hose. The trailer’s axels are rated to 16,000-lbs., allowing the 550-gallon spoils tank and 500-gallon freshwater tan..
Ditch Witch founder dies
The utility construction industry lost a giant with the Dec. 11 death of Ed Malzahn, chairman of the Charles Machine Works Inc. (CMW). Malzahn’s invention of a compact trenching machine paved the way for changes in the way essential utility services are delivered to customers. Malzahn, 94, died i..
New Ditch Witch HD Backreamers
All Ditch Witch HD backreamers are now equipped with standard API threads to fit any industry drill under 100,000 pounds. The new models in the Ditch Witch lineup include the Beavertail HD, Warthog HD, Kodiak HD and Compact Fluted HD backreamers. Compact Fluted HD Backreamers: Similar to the Kodia..
B&T Drainage Wins Vermeer Ultimate Crew Contest
B&T Drainage of Marshall, IL, proved themselves as the ultimate drilling crew at the 2015 International Construction and Utility and Equipment Exposition (ICUEE) in Louisville, KY, beating out three other crew competitors and winning the use of a Vermeer D24x40 S3 Navigator HDD for the span of one y..
Melfred Borzall FastBack
Melfred Borzall’s one-of-a-kind patent-pending FastBackTM system is changing the way contractors handle HDD boring. FastBackTM is Borzall’s new system for direct pullbacks without removing the drill head or installing a backreamer. This unique system includes the FastReamTM housing – used in place ..
Polyethylene Pipe Installation Revitalizes 1800s Neighborhood
Leavenworth, founded in 1854, is the oldest city in Kansas. Workers have actually unearther some wooden pipelines, but many are cast iron that have long-served their time for the city’s 36,000 residents. Today, those pipes are often corroded to the point of leaking and even bursting. About a decade..
New productivity tools help HDD contractors work smarter, not harder.
The world’s aging infrastructure, expanding population and growing energy demands create an environment that will keep horizontal directional drilling contractors in high demand. At the same time, HDD contractors face new challenges, as project owners demand more information and detailed documentati..
A Small HDD Mud Recycler Built for Big Success
Some of the best new product ideas come from customer conversations. Equipment manufacturers often talk with underground construction contractors about their ever-changing equipment needs on horizontal directional drilling (HDD) job sites. When utility contractors talk about their biggest HDD pain p..
American Augers Introduces Mid-Range Rig, Fluid Recycling System
American Augers has introduced two new horizontal directional drilling (HDD) products – the DD-110 directional drill and M200D drilling fluid recycling system. The 110,000-pound pullback DD-110 represents the “low” end of the company’s mid-range directional drill lineup. The M200D fluid recycling s..
Directional Drilling: Reamers & Hole Openers
Century Products Century Products introduces a new line of Fly Cutters engineered for maximum performance and reliability. Incorporating a robust square tube design to ensure longevity with superior strength, this new design features the ability to pull or push ream due to strategically placed cut..
McLaughlin Premiers Truck-Mounted Vac-Ex
by Jeff Griffin, Senior Editor McLaughlin introduced a new truck-mounted vacuum excavator at the 2015 ICUEE show in Louisville, KY. The primary market for the machine is expected to be horizontal directional drilling (HDD) contractors for cleaning up drilling fluid and high-production potholing. T..
UC's HDD Rig Spotlight
Ditch Witch The 268-hp JT100 is an incredibly powerful machine, but it’s not power that makes it so productive, it’s how the power is distributed. The JT100 is designed to deliver power where it’s needed to complete the bore in the most efficient manner, without compromising power to other machine ..
Underground Construction Drilling Fluids Guide 2015
Bentonite Baroid Industrial Drilling Products (281) 871-4613, www.baroididp.com Aquagel: Premium grade Wyoming sodium bentonite used as viscosifier and filtrate reducer in freshwater drilling fluids. Meets the requirements of API Specification 13A, Section 9. NSF/ANSI Standard 60 certified. Bore-..
Record Setting Houston Ship Channel Crossing
by Greg Goral, design engineer, Michels Directional Crossings; and Donald Mueller, assistant operations manager, Michels Directional Crossings The 50-mile-long Houston Ship Channel is regarded as a modern marvel of civil engineering. So is the 2.6-mile-long cable-stayed Fred Hartman Bridge that ..
Thunder Products Introduces Large HDD Recycling System
Thunder Products is introducing a new Thunderstorm drilling fluid recycling system at the 2015 ICUEE show in Louisville, KY, in late September. The Thunderstorm III becomes the largest of three fluid recycling system models in the Thunder Products lineup, said company President Dan Sharpe. It is de..
Vermeer Launches S3 Navigators
“Speed, simplicity and sound are represented by the S3 designation,” said Jon Kuyers, Vermeer senior global product manager, underground. “To earn the S3 badge, a machine must document improvements in each of those areas.” Kuyers said each model has been upgraded with a simplified design providing ..
Vermeer Launches Productivity Tools Package
Vermeer productivity tools package InSite Productivity Tools from Vermeer help HDD contractors streamline and simplify the entire job process from planning to invoicing, allowing the contractor to more easily document project work. By combining documentation, bore planning, data collection and rem..
Laney Completes Record-setting Direct Pipe Installation
In 2013, due to the surge in domestic natural gas production and abundant U.S. supplies, Houston-based Cheniere Energy made a prudent business decision. Recognizing the economic opportunity that could be derived from exporting (versus importing) natural gas, Cheniere Energy embarked on a major upgra..
Equipment Spotlight: Drilling Fluids/Polymers
Drilling fluids/polymers by CETCO Drilling Products, M-I SWACO, Baroid Industrial Drilling Products and Wyo-Ben.
Equipment Spotlight: Downhole Directional Drilling Tools
Downhole directional drilling tools by Hunting Trenchless, HammerHead Trenchless Equipment, Sharewell HDD, Railhead Underground Products, INROCK, Ditch Witch, Vermeer, American Augers, Radius HDD Tools, Melfred Borzall, StraightlineHDD and Horizontal Technology.
Power Dynamics Completes HDD Rig For Harding Directional Drilling
Power Dynamics LLC (PDI) announces completion of a custom designed and manufactured maxi-rig for Harding Directional Drilling of Bryan, TX.
Updated AEM Safety Manuals Outline Directional Drilling Best Practices
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has produced a new Directional Drilling safety manual and updated its Directional Drilling Tracking Equipment safety manual to reflect the latest industry best practices for drilling safely.
Equipment Spotlight: Tracking Systems
Tracking systems by Ditch Witch, Digital Control Inc., Radiodetection/SPX Corp., Horizontal Technology, Underground Tools Inc., Sharewell HDD Services and INROCK.
New Pipeline Construction Product Allows for Simple Installation of Standard PVC Pipe in Houston HDD Project
One of the challenges facing municipalities in the replacement of failing pipelines is that many of these pipelines are located in developed and populated areas.
Equipment Spotlight: Downhole Directional Drilling Tools
Downhole directional drilling tools by Armadrillco, HammerHead Trenchless Equipment, Railhead Underground Products, INROCK, Ditch Witch, Vermeer, American Augers, Radius HDD Direct, Melfred Borzall, Sharewell HDD Services, Horizontal Technology, Ballantine, Hunting Trenchless and Straightline.
- Lynchburg, Va., breaks ground on largest-ever Blackwater CSO tunnel project
- Federal court halts permits for 32-mile Tennessee gas pipeline project
- Cadiz to reuse steel from terminated Keystone XL pipeline for California groundwater project
- CGA’s 2023 DIRT report shows fewer utility damages, urges action on locating delays
- New York secures $665 million for water infrastructure improvements
- New Portable Welding System From Miller
- Excavator Causes Puerto Rico Power Outage
- Hope Gas expands West Virginia reach with Consumers Gas Utility purchase
- Wisconsin proposes new PFAS drinking water standards to align with federal rules
- Dog River pipeline replacement in Oregon improves water supply with new HDPE pipe