Roundtable Discussion: Horizontal Directional Drilling
While the boom years of the directional drilling industry may bein the rearview mirror, the method is nevertheless a valuable tool in theunderground contractor’s toolbox. In fact, it is making inroads into municipalwater and sewer markets in addition to a resurgent fiber-optic market that was aprincipal driver in HDD’s development.
But there are still concerns over where the market is heading,what level of training is required and how new technologies may affect themarket.
To explore these questions and others, TrenchlessTechnology invited a group of North American drilling contractors,engineers, owners and equipment manufacturers to air their views.
The participants were: David Barbera, Vice President, Barbco, Canton, Ohio Siggi Finnsson, Product Manager, Digital Control Inc.,Renton, Wash. John Fluharty, Senior Vice President, Mears Group Inc.,Rosebush, Mich. Jim Murphy, Senior Pipeline Engineer, COLT EngineeringCorp., Calgary, Alberta Dennis Simpson, Senior Engineer, Pinellas County Utilities,Clearwater, Fla. Jim Rush, Editor, Trenchless Technology, Peninsula,Ohio |
The roundtable was held April 27 at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando,Fla., in conjunction with the NASTT No-Dig Show.
Trenchless Technology — What isthe state of the market? Is it growing? What areas are driving the market? Whatareas are untapped?
John Fluharty — At Mears, we see the state of the marketstabilizing in our area. One thing that is driving the market is the socialimpact. We are starting to see the social impact play a bigger and bigger rolein the decision-making process, especially in the municipal market. Themunicipal market itself is relatively untapped. Municipalities have been slow toadopt HDD as a practice, but we think that going forward it is the area that hasthe most opportunity.
Jim Murphy — In Western Canada, the marketis primarily driven by the oil and gas business. Right now, oil and gas isbooming everywhere, but pipeline work is really quite slow right now. I expectin the next couple of years there will be a great deal of work, so there isdefinitely the potential to grow. Directional drilling is also being used moreand more for sewer and water construction, especially for replacementapplications.
David Barbera — The market appears to begrowing. We’re seeing increased emphasis on line-and-grade bores. It hasn’t beenfully accepted yet, but there is a lot of potential in that area.
Siggi Finnsson — What we’re seeing is moreacceptance by engineers and by cities in general of HDD. Unfortunately, therehave been some bad examples over the past couple of years so there are stillpeople who are gun-shy. We as an industry still need to do a better job ofeducating engineers as to what is possible and what isn’t. I talked to someonerecently who was looking into putting in a sewer using HDD at a 0.14 percentgrade, which is awfully flat and not something I would want to undertake withdirectional drilling machines. We need to educate planners as to what ispractical and feasible, and establish some guidelines. Areas that are untappedare ones that are currently being done with traditional digging methods. Thereis a lot of work being done currently with conventional means that we could dowith HDD.
Trenchless Technology — How hasthe equipment evolved recently? What areas need improvement?
Finnsson — One of the things we have beenfocusing on is making the electronics capable of documenting various aspects ofthe drilling process. For example, we have a tension and drilling fluid pressuremonitoring device that allows you to measure the tension that you are pullingand at the same time it measures the fluid pressure. This started as arequirement that came out of Belgium where the gas companies are concerned aboutthe pipe being strained. Improving accuracy and ease of use are also important,especially considering the volume of work coming up and the potential for lackof training.
Barbera — As a machine manufacturer, we’re trying to do the samething. We’re focusing on making the controls more user-friendly. I will say thatone thing that could be improved would be training. There are a lot of drillsput in people’s hands that aren’t fully trained. We are also finding that thelocating equipment is better, which is something that will help in makingsuccessful grade bores.
Murphy — In terms of steering, there havebeen some good advancements. The equipment now will allow you to meet in themiddle. You can steer from both sides, like with a mile-and-a-half long drill,and actually meet in the middle. Typically you are going to do that when youhave problems with surface gravels on both sides that are too deep to excavateor drive casing through. It’s only been done in the last two to three years. Ifit then needs to be enlarged, it can be reamed from one side. The technology isquite amazing.
Fluharty — Most of the evolution over thelast five years relates to downhole steering and downhole pressure monitoring.That is where all of the advancements needed to take place and that is wherethey are taking place. The rig itself comes out of the oilfield and it is prettyold technology. Giving us the ability to do these intersects as an industry isgoing to advance the longer distance drills from this day forth. That enlargesthe market because in the past, those drills would not have been possible.
Murphy — The one area that is evolving ison-grade boring. It’s on every municipal owner’s mind right now, but it’s stillin its infancy at best.
Simpson — I agree. We used to use open-cutfor everything. But now that we’ve used directional drilling, we find itpreferable if it’s price-competitive. Residents love it because you’re nottrenching across someone’s driveway.
Trenchless Technology — How hasthe industry evolved since the heyday years of the late 1990s?
Finnsson — As an industry it’s almost likewe have a new lease on life in using more sophisticated techniques. The key isconvincing the engineers that these new techniques are viable and then go outand prove it with results. The industry has gotten a black eye in certain areasin the past, and there are a number of municipalities and engineers sitting onthe sidelines saying, “I saw what you guys did last time, we’re going to waitand see how this unfolds.”
Murphy — One change in the industry in thelast few years is that engineering companies are specializing in HDD. If you canget an engineer specializing in HDD working with the geotechnical and civilengineers, you have a better chance of dealing with potential problems that mayarise during a project. This is someone who could be hired by the municipalityor its consultant, or the contractor can be required to have someone on theproject team to deal with HDD issues. That is happening more and more.
Fluharty — A large percentage of the workwe priced in the municipal industry is not designed to the point that it is adrillable job. That is a huge concern. We think that has to be addressed. Thereis a level of expertise and experience that needs to be tapped on a more regularbasis, both on the contractor’s and engineer’s side. In the large rig area, theindustry still has a mentality to a certain extent that if a 5-lb hammer won’tdrive that nail, then a 10-lb one will. We believe at Mears that is just nottrue. There is a different way to go about these projects. It takes a lot ofplanning. You should evaluate bids based on price, experience, reputation andthe specific work plan. You have to ask contractors how they are going toapproach the work and what is the contingency plan.
Trenchless Technology — What aboutthe practice of pre-qualifying contractors? Would that help prevent accidentalstrikes and frac-outs?
Simpson — For a recent large project, wedid pre-qualify contractors. But the problem was that it was a unique job — outon a barrier island with limited room — so there was no other job like it. Wehave also encountered contractors who have an attitude that they know best andthey’re going to do it their way and that makes things difficult from an owner’sperspective. Another problem can be the low-bid process. On one of my biggestjobs, we had bids ranging from $12.8 to $24.2 million, so you know that someoneis not reading the specifications or they’re not interpreting them the same.
Fluharty — The key is not to pre-qualify.The key is to put enough meat in the pre-qualification so that you sort out themost qualified contractors. We see a lot of pre-qualifications that say “howmany years have you been in this and what is your annual dollar volume?” That isnot a pre-qualification. Pre-qualification needs to be specific to the project.The high-profile projects need to be addressed by stringent pre-qualificationsconcerning planning and contingency planning. I think the outcome rests on thepre-qualification process and the engineering process. If you utilize trulymeaningful project-specific pre-qualifications rather than the usual boilerplatedocuments, I think things would improve.
Trenchless Technology — How welltrained is the contracting community? What is being done in the area oftraining?
Simpson — We have had drillers who have alot of experience, but they come from an industry where they have open fieldconditions. But when they come into urban areas, it’s a different game. When youare in an urban area, speed is not that critical, you want the job done properlywith a minimal amount of frac-outs. To them, frac-outs are no big deal becausewhere they were drilling in an open field, it wasn’t a big deal. But in an urbansetting, it is a big deal. You’ve also got other utilities you have to thinkabout.
Finnsson — One of the good things we seeabout companies that are relatively large is that they actually have in-house,organized training with safety directors. When you contrast that with asingle-machine contractor, typically he may have been trained by the dealershipor manufacturer. These contractors have often spent a lot of money on equipmentand are in a hurry to get going and start making some of that money back, so thetraining sometimes takes a back seat. Hopefully this time around there will bemore consolidation and people will get into this industry more carefully thanlast time. We emphasize the importance of industry training, but we can’tmandate that. Certification is a touchy subject that most are hesitant totackle.
Barbera — As a manufacturer, we encouragecontractor training. There’s much more to it than just handing someone a manualand saying, “Learn to drill.” We have gone onsite with the crews and helped themcomplete bores. We also put on seminars and training sessions that could reallyhelp educate. There are many qualified contractors who know what they’re doing,but we also find some who are new to the industry need the training.