Horizontal directional drilling
Steerable bores from 20 m to 3 km for water, oil and gas lines and cable conduits, under roads, waterways and sand dunes.
Horizontal directional drilling installs underground pipes and conduits along a planned bore path launched from the surface. The road, river or dune above stays in service, and the impact on the surrounding environment is minimal.
Two rig classes
Compact rigs, 20 t (Ditch Witch and American Augers, USA) handle pipe from 4″ to 30″ over bores of 20 to 300 metres. They suit utility crossings in congested urban areas.
Maxi rigs, 50 t to 250 t (Herrenknecht, Germany, and American Augers, USA) handle pipe from 4″ to 48″ over bores of 20 to 3,000 metres, including long crossings under sand dunes for Saudi Aramco.
Typical applications
- Water lines
- Telecommunication and power cable conduits
- Oil and gas pipelines
- Crossings under waterways, roadways and shore approaches
- Environmentally sensitive and highly congested areas
