From Trenchless Technology.
At 8 p.m., Chase Alderman rolls over to turn off his phone alarm and start his day. While many are turning in for the night, Alderman is headed to job site in Lexington, Kentucky, to start work on a 1,200-ft line installation project. It’s October, so the sun has already set on the stretch of road that will be Alderman’s jobsite.
While moonlit work around urban areas continues to grow, Alderman and the crew at G&W Construction Co. Inc. are already familiar with the unique complexities of operating at night. Night construction allows the flow of traffic to keep on during daytime hours. However, it requires underground construction crews to work efficiently, as they need to set up and tear down the jobsite each night.
The key to operating a jobsite like Alderman’s is having the right equipment on hand; finding the balance between a drill that is big enough to get the bore done efficiently and power through hard rock, yet small enough that it can easily be moved each day.
G&W Construction Co. Inc. found that balance in a Ditch Witch AT120 directional drill – and they were the first to put the new drill to the test domestically.
“Efficiency on a challenging jobsite boils down to having the right equipment,” said Alderman, secretary treasurer and superintendent of G&W Construction, a contracting business owned by his father, Darrell. “A drill that’s powerful, reliable and easily transportable can be a game-changer on a project where agility is crucial.”
The G&W crew kicked off the project by surveying the jobsite, creating a bore profile, and locating underground utilities with a Subsite UtiliGuard 2 utility locator.
Once underground obstacles were identified, the crew cut two 30-ft holes in the middle of the highway as an entry and exit pit for the drill.
With the drill rig in place, the crew drilled a pilot bore and began reaming through the hard rock. After working four nights per week for four weeks and making two passes, the crew moved the drill to the exit pit side and was finally able to pull the pipe through.
Given the solid rock conditions of the area, the G&W team estimates the drill helped them finish the project at least a week faster than they would have with a different drill that they were considering using. Part of the speed was due to the drill’s operator controls sharing commonality with other Ditch Witch equipment in G&W’s fleet.
Not only were the controls on G&W’s new AT120 drill easy to understand, but it was easy to steer. With a tangled web of underground utilities, the crew needed to avoid, accuracy was essential to keeping the project on time and the jobsite safe.
“Because we were pulling steel pipe, we had to be on a 1,200-ft bend radius,” Chase explained. “If you start having trouble steering the drill and you’re off, you can’t really correct steel pipe. You have to stay right on profile, so steering is critical.”
On week four, the G&W team pulled the pipe in section by section, allowing the gas company to weld the pipe joints together and make final preparations and inspections before it was completely installed underground. The project was then handed over to the gas company to complete the utility tie-in.
G&W’s Competitive Edge
This 1,200-ft steel pipeline installation in Lexington is the first of many projects the G&W team will have a competitive advantage on with their new drill. In addition to the power and ease of steering the drill provides, G&W believes that its quiet operation and compact design will give them an edge when bidding for other drilling projects.
As the demand for night construction continues to rise, the importance of a quiet jobsite does, too. Local city ordinances – many enforcing nighttime noise pollution rules – require crews to minimize the volume coming from their jobsites.
“On a night jobsite, it’s important to be cognizant of noise restrictions,” Alderman said. “Thankfully, new drilling technology meets these noise limits while still delivering the power needed to get the job done effectively.”
Having less support equipment on the jobsite can also help reduce noise. A major benefit for the G&W crew provided by the strength and smaller fluid requirement of the AT120 vs. an air hammer or mud motor setup. Having less support equipment onsite not only minimizes noise pollution but also helps the G&W team move on and off the jobsite more efficiently every night.
On to the Next Job
At 5:30 a.m., the sun was coming up over the jobsite, the G&W crew cleared the road of their drilling equipment and replaced the steel plates covering their entry and exit pits. Chase Alderman waved goodbye to the Ditch Witch Mid-States technicians and territory manager who was onsite alongside the G&W Team to support them should the AT120 have any issues – it didn’t. Traffic began to flow as local Kentuckians started their morning commute, and the G&W crew was off to bed.
“If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it all over again,” said Darrell Alderman, reflecting on the successful pipeline project his team completed.
