The History Of Horizontal Directional Drilling

No Wikipedia entry exists for Martin Cherrington describing his role in developing the initial equipment and technique that ultimately transformed a whole area of the building industry. It is, however, fair to begin with those who have come to be known as the "fathers" of horizontal directional drilling in the industry. This was way before Vermeer, Ditch Witch, DigiTrak or Subsite. This was the birth and infancy of the Horizontal Directional Drilling.

Who Invented Horizontal Drilling

As a utility installer in Los Angeles in the early 1960s, Cherrington came up with the concept of horizontal directional drilling. While on the job, he saw another business installing a gas line nearby using a hand-held air drill. When Cherrington learned about guided drilling, he was inspired to research the subject. He ended up going a long way beyond what he started with.

According to Cherrington, "my father was a general contractor and I had an incredibly wide foundation in civil construction.". "Because of my diverse educational background, I felt at ease with welding, fabrication, and other mechanical-type tasks."

To create his own business with Titan Contractors Inc. in 1964, Cherrington quit the utility company and constructed his drill rig, which allowed him to operate under various agreements with SMU under his contract (SMUD).

As he described it, his drilling apparatus was built around a simple carriage that revolved around the drill pipe. His words: "It looked a lot like many of the HDD devices you see now, but significantly downsized, incredibly light and skeleton-like.

While working for utility firms in the Sacramento region, Cherrington's team was renowned as a top contractor for road digging. Since the industry had not yet developed computerized tracking, Cherrington's team employed a technology he acquired from the Los Angeles gas company, which used a hand-held air drill. They would excavate " potholes " at different points along the boring route; they would excavate "potholes" to evaluate the drill head's angle and direction.

The First HDD River Crossing

Even in Cherrington, road boring for the installation of essential utilities was the first step. A new era in the history of drilling would begin with his next mission. Cherrington was working for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in Watsonville, Calif., in 1971, drilling for gas lines (PG&E). PG&E was fascinated by Cherrington's innovative tactics and requested him to check into another minor issue they were having while he was in town. If Cherrington could dig beneath the Pajaro River, PG&E would be happy to have a 4-inch gas pipe installed across the river.

According to Cherrington, it was considered "no man's land" at the time since no one had ever undertaken this task before. Remember that back then, there were no DigiTrak or Subsite locators on the market or even in development. At one time, Cherrington even sought the assistance of oil drilling techniques. After about a month of working on the project, they eventually broke through to the other side after essentially trying several ways.

According to him, "everyone thinks it was the first river crossing ever done." When I looked at it that way, I believed it was plenty since we were always doing various things." Because it was a one-time occurrence, I thought it wouldn't happen again.

As it turned out, word of Cherrington's successful river bridge spread quickly, and he was soon hired to do an even larger river crossing in Louisiana. Titan Contractors installed a 40-inch diameter pipeline in Houston in 1979, which was the most excellent diameter crossing ever undertaken.

According to him, HDD didn't become a household name until around 10 years after the initial river crossing. Cherrington returned to Sacramento in 1984, when he created Cherrington Corp., a company that specialized in HDD for fibre-optic installations, and he remained there until 1996. Horizontal directional drilling was born because of this.

Drilling Technology and Innovation

Even though the industry's roots may be traced back to Cherrington's early work, it has grown and modernized throughout time thanks to several advances. The use of technology has had a profound impact on this business, as it has on almost every other one. Tracking and steering have been two of the most significant developments in HDD technology.

Horizontal Technology Inc. president John English says that advancements in directional drilling have been directly linked to the ability of drill rigs to steer themselves.

As an oil and gas industry veteran who founded Horizontal Technology, Inc. in 1997, English emphasized the need of working in rural locations where there was minimal traffic. Surface monitoring systems must be developed for these approaches to be used in metropolitan areas where the bulk of work is taking place, he added. HDD's upgrading is primarily credited to the invention of magnetic steering tools.

In the late 1980s, Tensor, a business developing magnetic steering tools, formed a steering technique employing an artificial magnetic field that enabled a steering tool's location to be established about a source, such as a drill head. A contractor could now see exactly where a drill was drilled into the earth for the first time. This steering equipment over the next 40 years will become an industry of its own with major players like DigiTrak, Subsite and Underground Magnetics.

English said that having the ability to locate a drill head's position was a game-changer. "You're essentially digging with a compass under the surface. " Drilling directional holes has become a huge business. After then, the industry grew, and more people wanted to work in that field. Due to the lack of awareness about HDD, not many individuals could work with it."

The environmental advantages of HDD were also addressed in English, which said that in contrast to today, environmentalists were a significant supporter, mainly because they praised the usage of HDD. Because environmentalists prefer not to damage rivers by trenching over them, the drilling technique is known as horizontal directional drilling, or HDD is used in ecologically sensitive places.

It's hard to think of a more environmentally friendly instrument than HDD. HDD for specific applications is sometimes confused with the oil and gas sector by the new environmentalists, who fail to see its environmental advantages.

English discussed the changes in the bidding process and the dynamic between owners and contractors from a commercial perspective.

"Older bids would include in everything that would need to be done in a specific task and would also take into consideration everything that may go wrong," he said. "At this point, everyone is basically bidding against each other to get the lowest price."

It was also brought out that the link between a pipeline owner and the drilling contractor made it possible for that owner to get first-hand knowledge of horizontal directional drilling (HDD). This was a good thing for those unfamiliar with directional drilling at the time since it helped spread the word about it.

At some point in the industry's rapid growth, "consultants communicate with the owner," he stated. 'In some respects, the industry's structure has regressed. In terms of HDD's general progress, improved procedures, more extensive drills, and better-trained personnel may be found.

Pushing the Directional Drilling Market

Since the first HDD projects were completed, numerous large corporations have joined the market, bringing the technology to a new level of efficiency and scope. Cherrington pioneered the procedure, but it wasn't until many years later that other corporations began to adopt it.

For the last 40 years, Eric Skonberg has provided project management and advising to HDD owners, engineers and contractors. He spoke about the significant players that have pushed the business forward and how its applications have changed over that period. According to Skonberg, firms like American Augers and InRock were instrumental early on in advancing the sector to offer a wide range of services and tools.

He also noted that HDD was first used in the oil and gas business in the late 1980s, and bore lengths and river crossings had to be at least 1,000 ft. to begin.

When Vermeer and Ditch Witch entered the HDD market in the late 1980s and early 1990s, "the tiny end of the HDD business took off" as a result, he added. "Installations of fibre-optic cable started at this time. It's incredible to see how the industry's installation size has shrunk.

"The HDD market has also gotten more localized," he said. A few high-end firms will travel anywhere for any job: Laney, Michels, Southeast, and Mears, for example.

Both Skonberg and English agreed that today's engineers and owners are much more informed than they were even a few decades ago.

I believe it's becoming an even more competitive arena," he remarked. In the past, owners relied only on HDD contractors for engineering and had little idea of the complications that may arise. Their knowledge of engineering and planning for the project has improved significantly since they first started. Preparation of projects before a contractor becomes engaged has expanded as technology has advanced."

13 patents covered the industry's technique and equipment Cherrington developed by the early 1990s. There are still several HDD design patents held by the company, even if some have been sold and others have been acquired. The trenchless industry has flourished tremendously because of how many HDD methods have developed from Martin Cherrington's initial technology.

He remarked that there isn't a lot of time to think about stuff like that when you're on the job. "However, now that I'm older, I'm able to dwell on the past and the events that have occurred." When it comes to surveying and equipment, I've seen a lot of advancements throughout the years. "

Likewise, Cherrington lauded today's HDD manufacturers and their impressive technological advancements. As a result, he claimed, he has been able to work on far more significant projects that were previously impossible.

He noted that several specialty firms are producing incredibly efficient technologies to assist make this task feasible. 500 feet of 4- or 5-inch pipe was the first task we tackled." I just heard of a project to install a 5,400-foot-long 56-inch pipe.

"Take a look at the big difference between then and today, and consider how technology and tooling have enabled the industry to make such a significant rise. And in the next ten or twenty years, what do you think it will be?"