Horizontal Directional Drilling Technique: Everything You Need to Know

 Is it necessary to install a pipeline or conduit beneath a river, railroad, or roadway? Are you in a residential or urban area with numerous different utilities currently underground?

If yes, the answer may be horizontal directional drilling.

 

What is Horizontal Directional Drilling?
Horizontal Directional Drilling is commonly abbreviated as HDD. It is a steerable trenchless drilling technology that has gained popularity for underground transmission and pipeline distribution. This drilling technique is widely used in the power delivery industry, to reduce prolonged power outages during major storms or hurricanes. Additionally, it has a less disruptive mental and environmental impact on utility customers' day-to-day activities.

Rather than digging an open trench to bury the pipe, installing underground pipes with HDD requires less effort. Using this strategy significantly decreases the disturbance to streets and other existing foundations during development.

Horizontal Directional Drilling has opened the conduits for property holders and businesses who require extra utility establishments from sewer, water, and broadcast communications. Utilities can be installed almost anywhere at a relatively low cost and with less disruption to landscaping if horizontal directional drilling is available.

Basically, directional drilling permits professionals to penetrate a horizontal course without digging across a span of soil. It will open up additional opportunities for exactly locating pipes for utilities.

Applications of Horizontal Direction Drilling
Digging a trench and inserting a pipe into it is the most common way of pipeline installation. However, it is not always possible to dig a surface trench. So, if the pipeline needs to go through under the river or highways, then horizontal directional drilling will be a better option.

This advanced drilling technique can be used to lay a variety of underground frameworks. Some common applications are:

 

Pipelines for water and sewers, oil, and natural gas
Electrical cables
Fiber-optic and telecommunications cables and more.

 

 

Key Advantages of Horizontal Directional Drilling
When using horizontal directional drilling, many of the problems associated with traditional digging and pipe installation are alleviated. Utilizing this technique can save you money on costly digging projects. Let’s delve into figuring out the top 6 benefits of HDD.
Easy Installation:
In the past scenario, the only option for installing piping was to spend weeks digging trenches. This process was reformed by horizontal directional drilling. It is a perfect solution when the utility lines need to be installed beneath rivers and highways. In conventional drilling, it is essential to dig down to create space for pipe installation. However, with HDD, there is no such requirement for open cutting. This indicates that a pipe can go directly under the riverbed's surface without affecting the surrounding environment. It is also possible for highways to remain open and busy during pipeline construction.
Low Cost:
You may think that the cost of horizontal directional drilling is higher due to its more advanced equipment. Surprisingly, it is significantly less expensive than conventional drilling.
When compared to the traditional process, the horizontal directional drilling rods are able to drill with a higher level of accuracy. And thus, resulting in shorter drilling times. It even requires less manpower to operate the machinery. All these help you save your hard-earned money.
Longer Lifespan of Pipes:
During traditional drilling procedures, the pipes can be exposed to harsh environmental elements that can accelerate their degradation. For instance, conventional drilling was used for placing pipes underneath bridges, which places them in direct sunlight, rain, and other elements of the environment. All these play a significant role in the wear and tear on the drill rod. As a result, the lifespan of pipes is reduced by up to 50%. With the help of HDD, the underground pipe installation becomes easy, enhancing the pipe’s durability and keeping them intact.
Reduce Disruption:
In the past, piping installation necessitates destroying the entire landscape. Now it can be completely eliminated with HDD Tooling. A horizontal directional drill rod is specially made to be more accurate. As it doesn't require digging down into the property, it moves very little soil and leaves little damage to landscaping. Due to this fact, people are able to finish their drilling projects with fewer interruptions. You can save your precious time and money by doing landscaping and cleaning up the location after completing the process.
Easy to Extract Oil and Gas:
Horizontal Directional Drilling makes it possible to extract valuable resources without causing collateral damage to properties. Since pipelines can be outlined and selected to allow for higher levels of production, HDD increases exposure to a reservoir. If you want to get optimal production, HDD pipes can be curved at certain angles.
Less Hazardous for the Environment:
Horizontal directional drilling is a more environmentally sustainable procedure. To expose the soil to the surface, it creates a borehole by moving the soil to the side. This clearly indicates that soil contamination is less likely to spread to the upper surface of the ground. As a result, there are fewer risks of hazardous elements to be exposed. So, it is less harmful to the environment.

 

How Does Horizontal Direction Drilling Process Work?
There are basically three important stages to the horizontal directional drilling procedure:

Pilot Drilling: At the initial stage, a pilot hole gets bored at the surface area. The drill bit connected with the drill rods goes through the soil and pushes until it reaches the exit pit.
The drill bit is guided by the fluids released by the drill pipe. This fluid acts like a lubricator and creates easy passage. To ensure that the bore path is clean, they also carry soil cuttings out of the borehole and back to the drill rig. The precise location of a drill bit is easily determined by the HDD location system.
Safe Pipe Insertion: In the next step, the pilot borehole is enlarged to a size that safely accommodates the installed pipe. Reaming tools are attached to the drill bit when it reaches the exit pit. After that, the drill stem is pulled back until the drill bit gets back to the point where it started. The drill bit is then again located using the HDD location system. As a result, the hole has a larger diameter.
To ensure a stable hole, it uses drilling mixtures. This mixture typically contains bentonite and forms a layer around the pilot hole.
Pipe Installation: At the final stage, the product pipe is pulled into the drill hole until it completely fits into the bored path. The entire pipe string is made by welding together sections of the pipe. As the product pipe moves through the hole, fluids are used once again to lubricate it.
The drill string and other horizontal directional drilling materials are separated from the pipe as soon as it has filled the hole's length. At last, the surface around the pilot opening and exit point pipelines is fixed to their former condition.

Final Thoughts

So, on a simple note, horizontal directional drilling will become increasingly important. It gains immense popularity due to its less expensive and more environmentally friendly benefits of getting around busy cities. If utility companies want to switch to alternative energy sources, they will gain significance. Always remember one thing, while opting for HDD, make sure that the technicians are fully trained and experienced to complete the work accurately.