Abdollahipour, S; Jeong, D H S; Burman, R R and Gunsaulis, F (2012) Performance assessment of on-grade horizontal directional drilling. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 138(3), pp. 458-468. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Although horizontal directional drilling (HDD) has been widely accepted and used for installing gas lines, waterlines, and telecommunication cables, its applications to gravity-flow sewer lines have been limited. One primary reason is the difficulty with maintaining critical grades essential for gravity-flow sewer systems when using the conventional HDD tracking methods. Recently, advancements made in tracking systems, electronics, and operational techniques have made this HDD technology a technically feasible and an economically attractive method for installing on-grade underground pipes in many situations. This paper presents a newly developed HDD technology in terms of its technical capabilities and economic feasibilities compared with the traditional open-cut method on the basis of two real-scale case studies. Installation errors are quantitatively analyzed and discussed, and a general set of boundary site conditions for the application of this new technology is also discussed. The detailed analysis of the two case studies demonstrates that the on-grade HDD method could be a very attractive alternative construction method for gravity-flow sewer pipelines when some favorable site conditions are available.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | drilling; field tests; horizontal directional drilling; technology assessment; trenchless technology |
| Index terms: | performance assessment, new technology, pipeline, case study, technology assessment, field test, telecommunication, sewer, drilling, construction method |
| Subjects: | infrastructure and transport systems, building construction, assessment methods, communication, data collection methods, innovation and technology management |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Human Resources, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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