Underground Construction - September 2021 - 31
HDD Guidance in
Extremely Energized Ground
A handful of horizontal directional
drilling (HDD) specialists had failed to
complete a scheduled installation of fiber
optics in a Greenville, S.C., project that
was now more than a year overdue. Borepath
complications included two heavily
vegetated ravines, a road, two restrictive
railroad right-of-ways and a reinforced
concrete parking lot.
In addition, the path ran between
two abandoned and filled underground
gasoline storage tanks and alongside a
mismarked fiber-optics line that remained
up and running. Magnetic field anomalies
confounded utility locators and HDD
guidance systems. Regional contractors
either refused to take the job or begged
off after beginning it.
These are exactly the types of jobs
Atlas Group's HDD division pursues.
" We are called in to finish jobs other
contractors can't finish. You could say
that's our niche, drilling in hard rock,
doing the most difficult jobs, " said KJ
Woody, president of Atlas Group.
Founded in 2001 in Buckhannon,
W.Va., by KJ and his brother, Kyler,
Atlas Group is a family-owned and
operated company serving the needs of
underground utility and construction
customers throughout the East Coast
region. HDD applications typically
involve fiber, natural gas and waterline
installations.
Job specifications
The overdue 672-foot run along a busy
highway began directly beneath hightension
power-transmission lines. The
massive magnetic field completely masked
a typical drill string's beacon signal. The
path then descended beneath the heavily
vegetated surface of a 40-foot ravine
before crossing deep beneath a side road.
Beyond the road, the surface descended
again. Here the bore path crossed beneath
a decommissioned railroad track and then
further on, beneath two active railroad
tracks. The railway company forbade any
locating activity within 10 feet of the rails.
Once past this obstacle, the surface
above the path rose to an elevation
beneath an old gas station's parking lot.
The bore must rise beneath the parking lot
to pass between two abandoned tanks lying
just before the exit point. Adding further
interference was an existing fiber-optic
line that lay parallel to the bore path along
its full length, also passing between the
abandoned gas tanks.
Atlas was introduced to the job after finishing
a separate HDD project for the same
Greenville customer in similar energized
ground conditions elsewhere in the city.
Since the two sites were located close together,
Woody anticipated similar problems
UCONonline.com | SEPTEMBER 2021
31
http://www.UCONonline.com
Underground Construction - September 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Underground Construction - September 2021
Contents
Underground Construction - September 2021 - Cover1
Underground Construction - September 2021 - Cover2
Underground Construction - September 2021 - Contents
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 4
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 5
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 6
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 7
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 8
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 9
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 10
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 11
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 12
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 13
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 14
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 15
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 16
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 17
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 18
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 19
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 20
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 21
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 22
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 23
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 24
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 25
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 26
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 27
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 28
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 29
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 30
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 31
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 32
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 33
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 34
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 35
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 36
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 37
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 38
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 39
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 40
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 41
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 42
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 43
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 44
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 45
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 46
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 47
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 48
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 49
Underground Construction - September 2021 - 50
Underground Construction - September 2021 - Cover3
Underground Construction - September 2021 - Cover4
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