HDD
Mud Recycling Becoming Common For Mid-Sized HDD Rigs
Recycling and reusing drilling fluids is becoming increasingly common on jobs with mid-size horizontal directional drill (HDD) projects where previously that practice was uncommon. Recycling isn’t for every job – it would not be practical on jobs with small machines making short bores – but contrac..
John Deere SmartGrade Crawler Dozer Promotes Productivity with Innovative Technology
New John Deere SmartGrade crawler dozer is built to improve jobsite accuracy and quality of work with its integration of the Topcon 3D-MC2 Grade Control System, which is fully integrated into the machine’s cabin, structure and software to deliver precise grading performance while eliminating vulnera..
Complexities Of Modern HDD Make Directional Drilling Rig Maintenance Even More Important
No one disputes the importance of proper directional drilling rig maintenance, yet too often it is neglected. The consequences ultimately show up on the bottom line and whether a project is profitable or one that goes in the red. Properly maintaining HDD equipment simple is good business. Multiple ..
Ramming Tool Extraction Cradles Simplify Key Aspects Of HDD Projects
HammerHead Trenchless Equipment’s wide assortment of ready-made ramming tool extraction cradles are now able to be locked inside. The extraction cradles enable horizontal direction drilling (HDD) contractors to position ramming tools 180-degrees to extract jammed pipe or tooling, assist in product p..
Straightline HDD Crusher Reamer
With a solid body foundation, the Straightline HDD Crusher reamer can be configured with either short-bodied radius top carbide buttons for hard rock up to 25,000 PSI or chisel-top carbide buttons for softer formations. The carbide buttons are precisely located on independent cutting paths to insure..
Innovative System Notifies Pennsylvania American Water Of Water Emergencies
Pennsylvania American Water, the largest water utility in its namesake’s state, has deployed a high-speed notification system – CodeRED – in an effort to rapidly alert customers of water emergencies. The system allows residents to set their personal preferences for contact methods and then facilitat..
Subsite Electronics Introduces New 2550GR Utility Locating System
Perry, Okla. – Subsite Electronics, a Charles Machine Works Company, has introduced the 2550GR Ground Penetrating Radar System featuring a new, user-friendly Window’s-based interface that will provide operators with a number of productivity enhancing benefits. “The 2550GR offers all the same great ..
New Reaming Tool Clears Debris, Rock From Culverts
By Jeff Griffin, Senior Editor Infinity Tool Mfg. has introduced a new line of reaming tools for clearing debris and rock from drainage culverts. Forward Articulating Reaming Tools can be attached with special connectors to several types of earth engaging equipment and extended into culverts to r..
PDC reamer by Bit Brokers International
The VersaReam is a patent pending design for an expandable/interchangeable blade PDC reamer by Bit Brokers International. The VersaReam is changing the drilling industry as we know it. It provides more Versatility to the drilling industry by allowing drillers to change the size of their reamer by si..
Michels Direct Pipe Installations
Michels Corporation closed out 2015 by completing its 11th and 12th direct pipe installations in Toronto and Ontario, Canada – the most direct pipe installations of any company in the world. Michels’ latest two installations were 1,300 feet of a 42-inch pipe and 823 feet of a 36-inch pipe, respecti..
Ditch Witch Introduces Online HDD Training Program
Ditch Witch has introduced a new online horizontal directional drilling (HDD) operation and safety training program for personnel at all skill levels and experience with directional drilling. The online Ditch Witch Certified Training Program is an industry first, said Greg Wolfe, Ditch Witch direct..
CNX Awarded Fiber Broadband Development Contract In Kentucky
Warren County Fiscal Court awarded Connected Nation Exchange (CNX) a contract for fiber broadband development on behalf of Warren County, KY in the advancement of the county’s goal to provide fiber-based broadband services throughout the county. CNX will develop technical and financial models in an..
Rapid Set Products for Keyhole Utility Repairs from Buzzi Unicem
Buzzi Unicem USA manufactures Calcium Sulphoaluminate Cement used in their keyhole products. Ulti-Grout is used for core reinstatement, Ulti-Pave3 is for unusable cores and Utility-Fill One Step, a fast setting, self-compacting backfill material. All three materials are used for small-hole technolog..
Bobcat, Doosan and NDSU Dedicate New STEM Classroom, Lab Building
Bobcat Company and Doosan joined North Dakota State University (NDSU) to dedicate its new STEM Classroom and Lab Building, which will support studies in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The cross-functional design of the facility — which officially opened to students in January — b..
Vermeer D20x22 S3
The next entrant in the S3 generation of drills – the D20x22 S3 – features more power, increased speed, versatility and precise control. The D20x22 S3 makes significant gains in power and speed compared to its predecessor – the D16x20 Series II. With nearly 20,000 pounds of thrust and pullback, and ..
Telematics Comes To HDD
Telematics Technology Aids Crews In Operating More Efficiently, Productively Josh Alkire always understood that, on the typical utility installation, his crew’s horizontal directional drill spent a decent amount of time idling. After all, it’s not nonstop boring on a job. But it wasn’t until he sa..
When Emergency Strikes: Pennsylvania American Water Launches New Rapid Notification System to Reach Customers
HERSHEY, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pennsylvania American Water announced today the deployment of a new high-speed notification system, called “CodeRED,” to quickly alert customers when water emergencies occur. The system enables residents to be contacted via phone, text and email, depending on their per..
Trenchless Technology Comes To Barbados
Two methods of trenchless construction are being employed in a project to improve the water infrastructure on the island nation of Barbados. Using trenchless methods on this segment of the project allows aging water mains to be replaced while greatly limiting the amount of excavation needed to bury ..
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..
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