It is no secret that trenchless technology has its fair share of risk, and regardless of where you fit into this industry, chances are a big part of your job is spent trying to manage and mitigate that risk.

One of the most frequent questions that I get asked is, “How far can I go with this machine?” These questions typically come up before a set of plans get tossed on the table that clearly defines the required drive lengths. Maybe it is a design engineer looking for some guidance on a future project (It’s awesome when they ask these questions before a project hits the streets!) or a contractor working their way through a value engineering exercise.  In either case, most of the time my response to their question is another question. How far do you need to go?

Let’s explore a couple of scenarios where you have 2000 feet of pipe to install. If the totality of this tunnel is under a river or a runway or any other obstacle, your objective is fairly straightforward. You gear up and install a 2000-ft tunnel. But what if your pipeline was along a roadway or in an easement where you had manholes or maintenance portals every 1000 feet or so? Now you have some options. In this case, you only need to go 1000 feet, but now you have the option to weigh the risks and benefits of installing two 1000-ft tunnels against a single, more-complex 2000-ft shot which might save you a little time.