Underground Construction - October 2017 - 34

20 17 C A PA B I LITI E S G U I D E
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

A Buried Maze of Pipes Puts
the FastBack® System to the Test

Our customer was a large gas distribution contractor who was facing
a tough challenge: they had a short bore job that required crossing six
different utilities. This 120-foot bore to install a 3-inch polyethylene gas
main meant weaving through one 6-inch high pressure gas main, one
6-inch low pressure cast iron gas main, one 6-inch water main and three
communications lines. It was a three-dimensional puzzle buried in the
ground. Though the red clay soil made for relatively easy drilling, this job
required precision and careful attention. There was no room for error.

The pilot bore went smoothly. Once at the receiving pit, the directional
housing had two FastReam Cutter Blocks installed. Two of the MudBoost
fluid ports were opened up to supply more fluid during the reaming and
pullback. A QuickSwivel was bolted to the blade and the 3" polyethylene
pipe was attached.
The two FastReam Cutter Blocks make a great backreamer for soft
to medium-hard soils. But another advantage is that there are only two
blades spaced apart and offset 180 degrees from one another. Because of
this, the operator was able to carefully adjust the position of the blades to
avoid a strike on one of the existing utilities while crossing. This was the
perfect set-up for a job of this complexity.
FastBack reamers are inspired by the design of our Terminator-style
reamer, which was originally developed or drilling clay. It's an eﬃcient
cutter in soft to medium soils-but its advantage is that it only has two
blades. Because of this, the operator can carefully adjust the position of
the blades to avoid a strike on a line. Our pullback got off to a great start.
Everything was going beautifully. And then we reached the utilities.
When we got to the exposed pipes in each pit, we stopped the job to
assess the situation. This is where we had to be very careful. But the FastBack System was up to the job. We pulled one blade over, then rotated
180 degrees. Then we pulled the other blade over.
With a normal reamer, this action is impossible because the blades are
positioned too close. But the FastBack design is primed for this type of
accuracy. We were able to lace the pipe through while maintaining enough
clearance from all other lines.

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Before we began, the crew was skeptical. Why not just trench the job?
they asked. There was the inevitable grumbling that comes with trying
something new. After we finished, however, the crew was blown away
with the amount of time it saved. With a full trench, this job would have
taken at least two days for trenching, install and backfill. With the FastBack System, the whole job was completed in a single day. The drilling
only took a couple of hours. The majority of the time was spent manually
hollowing out the areas surrounding the existing lines.
Our FastBack System was the perfect solution to a complicated job like
this one. But our original impetus to develop this groundbreaking (no pun
intended) tooling was to make drillers safer and more eﬃcient. The FastBack System reduces the need to haul a breakout system down into the
pit to install the reamer. Now crews can simply install FastReam cutter
blocks directly to the housing by using a set of Allen wrenches and other
small tools. Cleaning the housing and installing the cutter blocks can be
completed in a few minutes. The result is safer, quicker and easier to manage equipment that helps drillers get the job done better.

Underground Construction October 2017

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Underground Construction - October 2017

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