Ohio HDD Rodeo Revival a Success

Technically, it did rain on their parade, but that didn’t stop the drillcrews and attendees of the Ohio HDD Rodeo from having a good time.

The three-day conference and horizontal directional drilling (HDD)competition got a little taste of Ohio weather, where April showers don’t bringMay flowers — just more showers.

Drilling crews, exhibitors and attendees from around the Midwest and Canadadescended upon the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea, Ohio, less than 20miles southwest of Cleveland, May 11-13, for a series of educational seminarsand the drilling competition, which had more than $25,000 in cash and prizes atstake. By the end of the event, a crew from Precision Directional Boring,Brunswick, Ohio, took top honors in the competition.

Ohio HDD Rodeo Results
Place	Crew	TOTAL TIME	Pilot	Pull- back	Min. Added @40 ft	Min. Added @140 ft	Random Pt.	Target
1	Precision Directional Boring D	62.23	25.08	13.15	3	18	3	0
2	S & S Directional Boring	63.18	21.18	10	12	18	12	-10
3	Gleason Construction	71.85	50.95	15.9	6	0	9	-10
4	xxxxx	78.07	34.53	10.53	3	24	6	0
5	xxxxx	85.65	32.28	17.37	15	9	12	0
6	xxxxx	104.63	26.2	18.43	21	33	6	0
7	xxxxx	104.65	64.83	21.82	9	0	9	0
8	xxxxx	112.17	51.48	21.68	18	9	12	0
9	xxxxx	120.3	39.25	19.05	21	33	18	-10
10	xxxxx	155.3	80.38	49.92	12	0	3	10
11	xxxxx	179.78	59.87	23.92	18	51	27	0
12	xxxxx	197.28	61.25	18.03	24	69	15	10
13	xxxxx	227.5	37.13	19.37	18	138	15	0

The event kicked off Thursday, May 11, with a series of seminars, includingthe HDD Good Practices Guidelines Course, presented by NASTT and Dr. SamAriaratnam. Then the drill crews got down and dirty, literally. The drillingcompetition was divided between Friday, May 12 and Saturday, May 13, with 13drills crews making their bid to be crowned the best in their industry.

The course was a 200-ft bore, meant to simulate a gravity sewer installation,with three target areas that were used to judge the accuracy of the drilling.The competition was based on the installation of 4-in. pipe, says Ohio HDDpresident Will Roth. Crews had the option of using PVC or HDPE pipe, suppliedand sponsored by CertainTeed, ISCO Industries and Underground Solutions.Drilling fluids were sponsored by Baroid and MI Drilling Fluids.

Each crew was judged on the time and accuracy of their pilot bore andpullback of the selected pipe. Between start and exit pits, the crews had tomeet an exact depth at 40 and 140 ft — the borepath had to be at a 2 percentgrade between these points. The third point between those target points wasdrawn at random after completing the run.

The judges measured the accuracy of the push and pullback at the threeintervals and assessed time penalties accordingly. The more a crew was off lineand grade, the more time was added to their overall score.

For example, if a crew was .9 in. off line and 1.4 in. off grade, it would bepenalized 3 minutes.

Another penalty of five minutes was assessed for any frac-outs.

However, a crew could make up some time if it nailed the target (marked on a2-ft by 4-ft board) at the end of the bore. For hitting the 6-in. inner ring ofthe target, a crew could knock off 10 minutes from its time. Crews that hit the18-in. diameter outer ring received no deduction, nor any penalty. A crew thatmissed the target completely received a 10-minute addition.

Precision Team D took the crown with a time of 62.23 minutes, using a DitchWitch 2720. The crew of Brian Woodworth, Scott Dackwiecz and David Holmes had 24minutes added to their 25.08-minute pilot bore and 13.15-minute pullback and didnot receive a bonus for hitting the target.

S&S nearly made it a photo-finish by hitting the center of the target,subtracting 10 minutes from its time, to compile a 63.18-minute push/pullback.The team of Jason Hoyt, Gary Mock and Andy Wehri used a Vermeer 33×44 for theirrun.

Gleason had a very accurate run, racking up the fewest penalties among thetop three finishers and hitting the center of the target. The team of ChuckCash, Kevin Meiring and Jason Howard used a Vermeer D40x40 and picked up a mere15 minutes in penalties, which was reduced to five minutes after the 10-minutededuction for hitting the target. The team posted a zero in penalty minutes forthe 140-ft mark, one of only three crews to do so at any of the measuringpoints.

Prizes included equipment and cash, such as a Barbco reamer valued at $5,000,a $4,000 Melfred Borzall Eagle Claw head, a Digital Control locating systemvalued at $8,000 and cash prize of $5,000 split between the top three crews thatwas donated by the Ohio HDD Association. Baroid Industrial Drilling Products wasalso among the prize contributors.

The drill crews and 185 attendees, including engineers and governmentofficials, were not only treated to an exciting display of drilling skillthrough challenging weather conditions, but they also had a chance to peruse the19 exhibitor booths indoors and outdoors at the event. Exhibitors showed a bevyof tools, accessories and services all geared toward HDD.

Roth says the Rodeo provided possible clients the chance to see what HDD cando. The event featured an ideal forum for networking, from the seminars andcompetition to the exhibitors and product demonstrations.

The association hopes re-establishing the Rodeo will invigorate more interestin the HDD industry, which has seen an upswing in work over the last fewyears.

“Our big focus is to show engineers, city officials and officials throughoutOhio how accurate HDD can be,” Roth says. “It brings more focus to the industry.But there’s also a fun factor. Come out and prove your stuff.”

The success of the event shows the positive step that HDD has taken over theyears after a severe downturn, says Rob Krzys, associate publisher of TrenchlessTechnology, which helped organize the event.

“It shows that the market is coming back,” Krzys says. “That’s good news forall of us.”

For more in-depth analysis and coverage of the Ohio HDD Rodeo, check out theSeptember issue of HDD Products.

Bradley Kramer is assistant editor ofTrenchless Technology.