The job was so diverse that Watland used four HDD crews and three different-sized rigs on the job.Obstacles like existing utilities and natural features such as bodies of water.
Tough ground conditions. Weather. Tight deadlines. This job was not an easy job by any means, says Jim Watland, operations manager for the Texas-based company. Heres a partial list of some of the challenges the Dakota Utility Contractors crews faced: Drilling in town, with some of that occurring in the backyards of peoples homes. Crossing roads, railroads, waterways and wetlands and dealing with the different agencies who oversaw those areas. Heavy rain that caused wet ground conditions for the first two months of the job. Vermeer Atlas Bore Planner Install A 12Four Dakota Utility HDD crews worked through these issues while undertaking nearly 30 shots totaling approximately 33,000 ft to install a 12-in. They started in mid-December and hoped to finish by the end of May. What Im most proud of on this project is the fact that we adapted and overcame all of the obstacles, Watland says. Our customer is extremely happy pleased with our production, how we handled the project and how we got things done. Diversity Serves Contractor Well Dakota Utility Contractors is located in the town of Ennis, Texas, on the outskirts of Dallas. The company has 15 HDD crews and does pipeline and utility installations. Traditionally, 40 percent of the companys work has been on the utility side and 60 percent oil and gas. But when the oil and gas market started to suffer in late 2014, Dakota Utility Contractors was able to shift into more water and sewer work to fill that gap. On one day earlier this year, Watland had nine crews on oil and gas jobs and the rest on utility installations. Vermeer Atlas Bore Planner Drivers Of TheWatland, whose job is to oversee the 15 drill crews, says one of the biggest drivers of the HDD industry is growing environmental awareness. More project owners are planning projects using horizontal directional drilling instead of open-cut methods because HDD has less impact on the environment. There are growing rules and regulations on things like drilling fluid disposal and inadvertent returns. Theres also an increasing demand for accuracy when it comes to drilling. Weve got a lot tighter tolerances today than we did two, three years ago, Watland says. Challenging Conditions Its trends like these that add to the degree of difficulty of an already challenging project like the one Dakota Utility Contractors recently tackled in Arkansas. The company was hired to install a transmission line for transportation fuel. The work was centered in Fort Smith in western Arkansas, with part of the pipeline going through an old military base that is now used as an Arkansas National Guard training facility.
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