City's Preference for HDD Signals New Era
While city governments have certainly played a vital role in the success of the trenchless construction industry over the last several years, it is traditionally not because they have bought a great deal of equipment and performed installations themselves. It is because they've accepted and promoted trenchless methods in their communities, hired contractors with horizontal directional drills and become advocates of the trade. That may be changing - specifically in regard to HDD.
A couple of years ago, two notions were considered improbable within HDD circles: first, that city governments were (or would be) a high-volume buying market for horizontal directional drills. It was thought that few would invest in the machines and operator training, and that many could not keep equipment working often enough to make ownership cost-effective. Second, that customers (any customer) would do so few HDD projects that they'd find it beneficial and profitable to rent HDD equipment. This is mostly because operator skill is so specialized. Why would an organization invest in the time to train operators only to have them use HDD occasionally?
The city of Milwaukee is among those turning both of these improbabilities into possibilities.
Taking Notice
Dennis Miller has been lighting services manager for the Milwaukee Street Lighting Department for 10 of his 15 years with the City. He has seen a lot of change. And, more than eight years ago, as he witnessed the primary wave of the trenchless revolution, he was impressed with the concept enough to request a machine demo. His first experience was not that great. An equipment dealer brought a horizontal directional drill out to complete a lighting installation under several hundred feet of sidewalk. The processes of HDD had not yet been perfected, and in the end, as the unit bored without the innovative drilling fluids we have today, it got stuck.
But, Miller still saw the potential, and envisioned the benefits that this type of technology — when perfected — could effect. Over the next couple of years, he kept a close eye on the equipment and methods via trade magazines.
“Over time, I began to read a lot about the fluids and gels that had been developed, so I decided to give it another shot,” he says. That confidence led to one last successful demo-bore under a railroad crossing. As Miller’s crew struggled with how to cross the tracks on a lighting installation, he remembered that a dealer had urged him to call if he ever came across what appeared to be an impossible job. Miller called that dealer in; he brought a horizontal directional drill, and in just a few short hours had completed the crossing that had been giving Miller’s crew headaches for more than two days.
Miller was at least sold on the method. For each of the next three summers, his crew rented an HDD unit from a different manufacturer’s dealer.
After Miller’s crew had a chance to run the machine themselves, they continued to believe it had promise. With that first rental came dealer training and support. And as they switched manufacturers over the next two summers, mostly so they could explore all options and critique and compare machines, the training and support continued. The two operators they’d trained in HDD got better, and Miller became more and more convinced that they needed to own a horizontal directional drill.
“Actually, after the second year I was saying, ‘we need to go this way,’” he says. “By the end of the third year, we were asking, ‘what size of machine do we need?’”
While Miller was sold primarily on the basic, conventional benefits of HDD, there was also some “conformity” involved.
“As I looked around, I saw a huge number of private contractors that were using drills,” he says. “I said to myself, ‘private contractors are out to make a buck; they’ve invested their hard-earned money in this type of equipment, so there must be something to it.’ We figured that if they can make money with it, we can probably save money with it.”
Miller and his superiors, who supported the purchase, then went through the proper governmental procedures for buying equipment. Eventually, they owned their first HDD unit, a Vermeer D10x15 NAVIGATOR unit, purchased from the Vermeer-Wisconsin Inc. location in Butler — the same dealership that had provided the rental support during one of the summers. Miller’s rentals had done exactly what he intended: they allowed his crew experience with the machine; they helped him sell the benefits to his superiors with concrete examples; and, they helped him select the make and model right for them.
Putting HDD to Work
Now with two machines (Miller recently purchased a second D10x15 NAVIGATOR), Miller’s crews bore five days a week between April and December, weather permitting. Miller cites safety as the biggest factor behind seasonality rather than method capabilities. They can bore in cold weather, he says, but the freezing pools of excess fluids create a safety hazard in urban settings, so they hold off for what can be bitter-cold months in the upper Midwest.
So far, they’ve done all their own HDD work, without needing to subcontract any lighting projects to private HDD contractors. Typical shots are between 300 and 400 feet, perfect for his two machines that have 10,000 pounds of pullback force and 440 feet of drill stem. Miller has no plans to expand his fleet in the near future; however, he does intend to train more operators, which he says can take time. Although it only takes a couple of weeks, he says, for operators to get a feel for the machine, safety is paramount in Miller’s mind. Working in areas in which there are existing utilities and other obstacles is taken very seriously.
“We have a narrow path in which to work,” he says. “Operators need to understand the need for accuracy and be able to control the steering and depth of the drill head.
“Equally important is getting our crew members trained to understand how to use our one-call system (‘diggers hotline’), what their marks mean, and the rules in regard to potholing around existing utilities. There are laterals all over, as well as water, cable and gas. We want our crew members to watch the bore head go through the hole on drill out and pullback. We're not only concerned about our own people, but citizens as well.”
This kind of training takes time, Miller admits. But, renting a machine over three summers, along with dealer support, gave his crew members the proper training and experience in the operator’s seat.
Reaping the Rewards
Miller quickly cites the two benefits of HDD that appeal most to him. Practically, in terms of the method, he likes the accuracy. “In our type of work, it goes back to that ‘narrow path.’ We have a very confined corridor that we can install our cable in; basically the operator is shooting in a 2-foot by 18-inch box,” he says. “The bore is 18 inches deep, and within18 inches from the curb. The guys have to stay in the path. They have to hit this spot right on — that's where HDD has the greatest benefits.”
Philosophically, in terms of the intangibles, he likes the fact that it’s non-intrusive. In fact, as they’ve done open-cut installations in the past, Miller could count on dozens of complaints from residents and homeowners, mostly regarding damage to lawns after re-cabling a large area. “There are virtually no complaints when HDD is used,” Miller says. “Our crews can be in and out in less than a day on some projects. We do the installation, water the grass around where the machine was sitting, and it’s difficult to tell we were even there.”
Cities have played a vital role in the acceptance of trenchless methods, particularly HDD. And while some municipalities over the last two years have lost faith as a result of strikes — often caused by inexperienced contractors — others have continued to support it and even embrace it. The city of Milwaukee is one of them. In fact, they’re even calling into question the old paradigm that cities don’t buy drills, and that rented equipment for occasional HDD projects is unlikely. This may be signaling a new era in the trenchless revolution, a rejuvenation of the market that now directly involves the cities that have been indirectly instrumental in the past.
A couple of years ago, two notions were considered improbable within HDD circles: first, that city governments were (or would be) a high-volume buying market for horizontal directional drills. It was thought that few would invest in the machines and operator training, and that many could not keep equipment working often enough to make ownership cost-effective. Second, that customers (any customer) would do so few HDD projects that they'd find it beneficial and profitable to rent HDD equipment. This is mostly because operator skill is so specialized. Why would an organization invest in the time to train operators only to have them use HDD occasionally?
The city of Milwaukee is among those turning both of these improbabilities into possibilities.
Taking Notice
Dennis Miller has been lighting services manager for the Milwaukee Street Lighting Department for 10 of his 15 years with the City. He has seen a lot of change. And, more than eight years ago, as he witnessed the primary wave of the trenchless revolution, he was impressed with the concept enough to request a machine demo. His first experience was not that great. An equipment dealer brought a horizontal directional drill out to complete a lighting installation under several hundred feet of sidewalk. The processes of HDD had not yet been perfected, and in the end, as the unit bored without the innovative drilling fluids we have today, it got stuck.
But, Miller still saw the potential, and envisioned the benefits that this type of technology — when perfected — could effect. Over the next couple of years, he kept a close eye on the equipment and methods via trade magazines.
“Over time, I began to read a lot about the fluids and gels that had been developed, so I decided to give it another shot,” he says. That confidence led to one last successful demo-bore under a railroad crossing. As Miller’s crew struggled with how to cross the tracks on a lighting installation, he remembered that a dealer had urged him to call if he ever came across what appeared to be an impossible job. Miller called that dealer in; he brought a horizontal directional drill, and in just a few short hours had completed the crossing that had been giving Miller’s crew headaches for more than two days.
Miller was at least sold on the method. For each of the next three summers, his crew rented an HDD unit from a different manufacturer’s dealer.
After Miller’s crew had a chance to run the machine themselves, they continued to believe it had promise. With that first rental came dealer training and support. And as they switched manufacturers over the next two summers, mostly so they could explore all options and critique and compare machines, the training and support continued. The two operators they’d trained in HDD got better, and Miller became more and more convinced that they needed to own a horizontal directional drill.
“Actually, after the second year I was saying, ‘we need to go this way,’” he says. “By the end of the third year, we were asking, ‘what size of machine do we need?’”
While Miller was sold primarily on the basic, conventional benefits of HDD, there was also some “conformity” involved.
“As I looked around, I saw a huge number of private contractors that were using drills,” he says. “I said to myself, ‘private contractors are out to make a buck; they’ve invested their hard-earned money in this type of equipment, so there must be something to it.’ We figured that if they can make money with it, we can probably save money with it.”
Miller and his superiors, who supported the purchase, then went through the proper governmental procedures for buying equipment. Eventually, they owned their first HDD unit, a Vermeer D10x15 NAVIGATOR unit, purchased from the Vermeer-Wisconsin Inc. location in Butler — the same dealership that had provided the rental support during one of the summers. Miller’s rentals had done exactly what he intended: they allowed his crew experience with the machine; they helped him sell the benefits to his superiors with concrete examples; and, they helped him select the make and model right for them.
Putting HDD to Work
Now with two machines (Miller recently purchased a second D10x15 NAVIGATOR), Miller’s crews bore five days a week between April and December, weather permitting. Miller cites safety as the biggest factor behind seasonality rather than method capabilities. They can bore in cold weather, he says, but the freezing pools of excess fluids create a safety hazard in urban settings, so they hold off for what can be bitter-cold months in the upper Midwest.
So far, they’ve done all their own HDD work, without needing to subcontract any lighting projects to private HDD contractors. Typical shots are between 300 and 400 feet, perfect for his two machines that have 10,000 pounds of pullback force and 440 feet of drill stem. Miller has no plans to expand his fleet in the near future; however, he does intend to train more operators, which he says can take time. Although it only takes a couple of weeks, he says, for operators to get a feel for the machine, safety is paramount in Miller’s mind. Working in areas in which there are existing utilities and other obstacles is taken very seriously.
“We have a narrow path in which to work,” he says. “Operators need to understand the need for accuracy and be able to control the steering and depth of the drill head.
“Equally important is getting our crew members trained to understand how to use our one-call system (‘diggers hotline’), what their marks mean, and the rules in regard to potholing around existing utilities. There are laterals all over, as well as water, cable and gas. We want our crew members to watch the bore head go through the hole on drill out and pullback. We're not only concerned about our own people, but citizens as well.”
This kind of training takes time, Miller admits. But, renting a machine over three summers, along with dealer support, gave his crew members the proper training and experience in the operator’s seat.
Reaping the Rewards
Miller quickly cites the two benefits of HDD that appeal most to him. Practically, in terms of the method, he likes the accuracy. “In our type of work, it goes back to that ‘narrow path.’ We have a very confined corridor that we can install our cable in; basically the operator is shooting in a 2-foot by 18-inch box,” he says. “The bore is 18 inches deep, and within18 inches from the curb. The guys have to stay in the path. They have to hit this spot right on — that's where HDD has the greatest benefits.”
Philosophically, in terms of the intangibles, he likes the fact that it’s non-intrusive. In fact, as they’ve done open-cut installations in the past, Miller could count on dozens of complaints from residents and homeowners, mostly regarding damage to lawns after re-cabling a large area. “There are virtually no complaints when HDD is used,” Miller says. “Our crews can be in and out in less than a day on some projects. We do the installation, water the grass around where the machine was sitting, and it’s difficult to tell we were even there.”
Cities have played a vital role in the acceptance of trenchless methods, particularly HDD. And while some municipalities over the last two years have lost faith as a result of strikes — often caused by inexperienced contractors — others have continued to support it and even embrace it. The city of Milwaukee is one of them. In fact, they’re even calling into question the old paradigm that cities don’t buy drills, and that rented equipment for occasional HDD projects is unlikely. This may be signaling a new era in the trenchless revolution, a rejuvenation of the market that now directly involves the cities that have been indirectly instrumental in the past.
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