TRACTUELL 9/E20

Your GRUNDOMAT-Partner:TR

AC

TUELL for collection

TRACTO-TECHNIK

The only ch

oice

for perfect

pipe installat

ion

Impressum© Copyright by:TRACTO-TECHNIKSpezialmaschinen D-57356 Lennestadt

Contents:Carola Schmidt

Setting and Layout:Anne Knour

Photography:Fotostudio Rickert

Printed by: Druckerei Hachenburg on recycablepaper

Circulation: 10,000 copies

TT Asia Pacific

Our mole makes friends with thekangaroo

TRACTUELLNewsletter from TRACTO-TECHNIK

Edition No. 9 • April 1999

Tracto-TechnikHead officeP.O. Box 40 20D-57356 LennestadtTel.: (+49) 2723/8080Fax: (+49) 2723/808189www.tracto-technik.deE-Mail: export@tracto-technik.de

TT Technologies Inc.2020 East New York St.USA-Aurora, IL 60504Tel.: 630-851-8200Fax: 630-851-8299www.tttechnologies.comE-Mail: 104433,2655@compuserve.com

Tracto-Techniques S.a.r.lSiège SocialB.P. 26, Z.I. de l’OisonF-76320 St Pierre lès ElbeufTel.: 02.35.81.50.24Fax: 02.35.81.40.82www.tracto-techniques.comE-Mail: info@tracto-techniques.com

TT UK Ltd10 Windsor RoadGB-Bedford MK 42 9SUTel.: 01234.342.566Fax: 01234.352.184www.tt-uk.comE-Mail: ttuk@compuserve.com

TT ASIA PACIFIC Pty Ltd31, Demand AvenueArundel, Goldcoast, Q 4214Queensland, AustraliaTel.: +61 (0) 7 55 614 999Fax: +61 (0) 7 55 614 900www.tt-asiapacific.comE-Mail: info@asiapacific.com

Dear Readers,

This year the Paul Schmidt Quality-Award 1999 will be awardedfor innovative horizontal drilling projects for the first time.

The awarded projects have to achieve a high quality installationperformance and should also be exemplary for the whole in-dustry. An international jury will award the prize, which isendowed with 10,000 DM, and the winner will also achieve thetrophy shown on the left. The winnning projects will be present-ed to a large public as part of the FAGEBO which takes placeNovember 5th, 1999.

I invite all our customer to participate in the project. You`ll findmore about “EXCELL 1999”and the conditions of participation onpage 6.

Yours sincerely

“EXCELL”1999Paul Schmidt

Quality-Award

Grundodrill 20S:

Reports on lengthrecord and steelpipe installation

For your next coffee party the molesuggests the tasty molehill cake.Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:• 6 Eggs• 140 g soft butter• 200 g sugar• 3 packs of vanilla sugar• 100 g wheat flour• 1/2 pack of baking powder• 100 g chocolate flakes• 150 g tinned mandarins• 2 sliced bananas

(drip lemon juice on)• 750 g whipped cream• 1 Tsp of icing sugar• 1 Tsp of cocoa powder

How to:1. Seperate the white from the yolk

of the eggs2. Stir butter, sugar and vanilla

sugar to a creamy mixture3. Put in the yolks one after the

other4. Mix in flour, baking powder and

chocolate flakes

Molehillcake

5. Carefully stir in the stiff beatenegg whites and fill the doughinto a springform

6. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes at 175˚C7. Let the baked pastry cool off8. Hollow the pastry out with a

spoon leaving a rim of 1cm andmake the dough crumble

9. Filling: heap mandarins, bananas

and whipped cream on thebaked pastry, sprinkle it thicklywith the dough crumbles anddust the cake with cocoa powderand icing sugar...

...the molehill cake is then ready.We hope you enjoy the taste of it!

Baking withthe mole

TRACTUELL 9/E2 TRACTUELL 9/E 3

Starting the pilot bore.

Installation of a drinking waterpipe Ø 280 mm as part of a newwater pipeline network.

In the city of Herford (Germany) anew water pipeline network is cur-rently being installed over a totallength of 1,600m. The existingwater mains will be abandonedbecause of age or state of the pipe-line. The tender documents speci-fied the use of a horizontal direc-tional drilling equiment as most ofthe pipes were to be installed innarrow streets, close to an environ-mentally protected area, through adensely populated quarter up to awater tower.

The total pipe length to be installedwas cut into 4 sections wherebyeach target pit was the beginningof the next bore (see sketch). Thelongest single bore totalled 500mand was a real challenge for theefficiency of the bore team and themaximum technical capacities ofthe bore system.

Contractor Heinz BENTE fromDiepenau/Germany was awardedthe contract not only because of the

price quoted but also because ofhis experience on numerous suc-cessful bores carried out with hissteerable boring units.

Knowing smaller GRUNDO-DRILL systems, Heinz Bentecontacted TRACTO-TECHNIK touse the latest addition to the range,the GRUNDODRILL 20 S.Due to its 200 kN of thrust andpull-back and including the inte-grated percussive hammer (deve-lopping a percussive hammer

action equal to 28.2 tons) this borerig is ideally suitable for back-reaming steps up to 750mm (30").

To get the best possible perfor-mance, contractor Bente startedthe shorter bores first, then set anew world record by succeedingthe 500m in September 1998.

Particular attention was paid tooptimising the bore rig performan-ce by having a bentonite specialiston site all time, using a bentonite

mixing and recycling system andusing the latest DrillTrack locatingsystem from Radiodetection.

The HD-PE pipe (manufactured byWAVIN) to be installed had anouter diameter of 280 mm x16.6mm wall with a weight of13 kg per meter. Single pipe 12 mlengths were butt-fused on site.Due to site space restrictions, thetotal pipe length could not be pre-welded but individual sectionswere welded during the pipe pull-ing process.

Thanks to its design of the self-con-tained GRUNDODRILL 20 S, thebore rig was installed on site with-in a short period of time.Additional bore preparation ope-rations such as stake down of thebore rig, sonde installation andcalibration, connection of supplyhoses, bore head assembly and

mixing of the bentonite supplyrequired but one hour.

The bore itself was divided into 3parts:1) pilot bore2) pre-reaming steps3) pipe pulling

A water/bentonite slurry wasmixed, using the well-knownBentonil from manufacturerHEADS. Having a water hydrantclose by turned out to be a verypractical, time-saving solution asthe truck with the mixing systemcould remain on site withouthaving to move the truck for watercollection. For each bentonite tank(4,000 l) 100kg of Bentonil weremixed. After just few minutes thebentonite slurry had already rea-ched its optimum viscosity andcould be fed into the bore head .

Thanks to the experience of thecrew operators, thrust and rotationspeeds as well as the bentonitepressure, flow and viscosity wereadapted to the soil encountered.Nevertheless bentonite emerged tothe road surface at some spotsalong the bore.

Thanks to the viscosity of the ben-tonite slurry, soil particles -loose-ned by the bore head - were car-ried out of the bore into the start,control and exit pits.

To avoid a gas and water pipeinstalled at a general depth of1.5m, the first section of the borewas done at 1.8m depth. In the lastsection an additional buried powerline and 63mm sewage pipe requi-red a change of depth of just 1m.On site the new Radiodetection

DrillTrack detection system wasused. Thanks to four arrows in-dicating the direction of for-ward/backward - right/left aswell as displaying the bore depth,roll and pitch, this new system isextremely user-friendly and preci-

The photo shows a pipeline of 84 m length. The total pipe length of 500 m was connected by butt-welding during pipe pulling.

Display of the Drill-Track detection system

The pipe segments are connected by butt-fusion.

Sketch of the bore path.

Jobsite report GRUNDODRILL 20Stotal pipe length

sets its own

new world Record: 500m

TRACTUELL 9/E4 TRACTUELL 9/E 5

se. A remote display located on thebore rig simultaneously displaysthese data so that the bore-mastercan make necessary corrections ofthe bore path.

In the soil with stone inclusions,the percussive hammer action ofthe GRUNDODRILL turned out tobe a necessity. For the 500m pilotbore a total boring time of 9 hourswas required, equalling an aver-age of 50m/hour, including thetime requirement for bentonitemixing.

A total of 167 drill stems (501m)was required. The standard drillstem box located on the bore righouses 40 drill stems; however,thanks to the concept of the

Grundodrill 20 S bore rig, a newdrill stem box with additionalstems could be loaded easily andrapidly without slowing down theboring operation.

After the 82mm (3 1/3") pilot boreand without any pre-reamingsteps, a 350mm (14") back-reamerwas used and in 1.5 working daysthe pilot bore was upsized. Usingthe combined mixing and recyc-ling system, contractor BENTE didnot require any additional bento-nite despite the size of the back-reamer.

Preparations were then made toeffect the pipe pulling job in justone operating day while eliminat-ing any stand-still periods. A totalof 4 butt-fuses were required tolink the 2x84m - 1x122m - 1x103m

(total length 515m) HD-PEpipes. To optimize the pipepulling, all preparations (butt-fusion - connection of the HD-PE pipe to the back-reamer etc)

were done on the day before theactual pipe pulling.

At 6h30 of the following day thepipe-pulling began. Duringmost of the pulling the maxi-mum pulling force, displayedon the pressure gauges was 5tons, then increased to 7.5 tonsand 10 tons towards the end ofthe pulling operation. Just 30seconds per 3m drill stem wererequired, so that the total pull-ing time was just 5 hours. Aslight time delay occuredbecause of the bentonite sup-ply. Because of the longdistances, the pump capacity

turned out to be insufficient andhad to be re-inforced. Never-theless, the pipe was in place at22h30 (10.30 pm).

More than one bottle of cham-pagne was opened by the crewmembers and the representa-

tives of the local water companyto toast this new world record..Congratulations to the BENTE

operators for this outstanding per-formance.

View of the target pit during pipe pulling.

The target has been reached. The pipe ispulled in.

Der GRUNDODRILL during pipe pulling

Rycycling of the boring fluid.

Use of DCI detection equipment during the pilot bore

The pilot bore.

Arrival in the target pit.

Grundodrill 10S during the pilot bore ofthe runway crossing

The Gas Company had beenawarded a section of pipe instal-lation project to install a gas pipeacross the runway in CKSAirport Taipei in March 1998.

The idea of installing the pipeusing a trenchless, steerable boringsystem had been largely welcomeby the Gas Company andConsultant Company. A lot of theHDD contractor as Vermeer,Flowtex and Terra had been visitedthe gas company and job site andall of the contractors had a bigproblem in their machine becauseof the bad soil condition.

Contractor TSUNG-HSIN-SHEMECHANICAL CO., LTD hadbeen using Tracto-Technik Grun-dodrill for more 2 years and alsohad some good experience inper cussive hammer applica-tion. Thanks to the Tracto-TechnikCompany and their advanceddesign percussive hammer to facethe difficult soil condition. On thisjob site, the soil contained morethan 30% of stones, some of themlarger than 30-40 cm. It was ex-tremely difficult for steering, theoperators said.

As a detection system they hadchosen the Digitrak package allow-ing the precise detection of the borehead despite lots of existing cables

and lots of metallic objects such asairplanes in their neighbourhoud.

Contractor TSUNG-HSIN-SHEneeded 8 hours for the pilot bore,12 hours more for the second pre-

reaming and another 8 hours forbackreaming again and pulling the8” pipe, total length of bore 75meters.

Since this is the first time to use thesteer boring equipment to acrossthe runway in Taiwan. Even thecontractor, visitor and the utilitycompany all are happy with thisexcellent experience.

Text by: Paci Halo,Taiwan

Difficult Runway Crossing for

GRUNDODRILL in

CKS Airport TAIPEI

Jobsite report Difficult Runway Crossing for

GRUNDODRILL in

CKS Airport TAIPEI

TRACTUELL 9/E6 TRACTUELL 9/E 7

TTgoes

Down Under

The mole is thesign for the PaulSchmidt Quality-

Award 1999; for thefirst time, it will bepresented for inno-vative horizontaldrilling projects thathave been started orcompleted in 1998or 1999. Thanks tothe initiative ofTRACTO-TECHNIK,

an internationaljury, consistingof specialists inthis particularindustry, have

attached certaincriterias to the award. The winninghorizontal drilling project has toachieve a high quality installationperformance, its application mustbe eco-friendly, economic andshould show other special features.It should also be exemplary for the

whole industry and compriseextraordinary and innovative featsof engineering.

Eligible are all enterprises specia-lised in horizontal drilling, alsoplanning and engineering compa-nies linked with an executive enter-prise. Three winners are awardedevery year. In addition to the cashprize of DM 10.000,00, the first win-ner will receive a trophy created bya well-known artist. The threewinners have the chance of intro-ducing their project to a largepublic within the settings of thetechnical meeting FAGEBO.

Members of the jury are: Professorfor Engineering Joachim Lenz fromthe University for Applied ScienceOldenburg (speaker of the jury);Engineer Rolf Köhler (honorarymember of the Association ofPipeline contractors), Ian Clark,editor of the journal NO DIG

International; Engineer HelmutHentschel (editor-in-chief of TIS)and Wolfgang Poßögel, (user of thehorizontal drilling method). Allrights are reserved for consultingexternal experts. The contest iswithout possibility of recourse tolegal action.

The application documents withconditions for participation in"EXCELL" 1999 can be obtainedfrom the organisation office "PaulSchmidt Förderpreis 1999".

Address: MK Hoffe Organisation office “Excell 1999”P. Box 14 45D-57379 SchmallenbergTel.: +49 29 71 - 8 70 88Fax: +49 29 71 - 8 70 43E-mail: hoffe@mkhoffe.de

Closing date for application docu-ments is August 31st, 1999.

First award presentation

“EXCELL”1999

Photo of the jury (from left to right): Professor for engineering Joachim Lenz, Engineer Rolf Köhler, Engineer Wolfgang Poßögel,Engineer Helmut Hentschel, Ian Clark.

Paul Schmidt Quality-Award

Horizontal-Drilling-Projects

TTgoes

Down Under

Mole makes friends with Kangaroo

Tracto-Technik has now extendedits worldwide chain of subsidiariesto the “Fifth Continent”.

In order to intensify customer rela-tions and to expand business activi-ties down under, TT Asia Pacific

PTY Ltd. was established in thebeginning of 1999. The subsidiaryis ideally located at the Goldcoastin Queensland, being prepared tobecome a central point of trade intrenchless technologies for theAsian Pacific area including China.

While TT’s longterm partner JBSales will keep handling machineand equipment sales, TT AP’s mainfocus is direct and personal cus-tomer support. The service ranges

from spare parts supply, promptrepair and maintenance ser-

vice, hiring and de-monstration of equip-ment and machinesto on site supportand theoretical as wellas practical trainingcourses by experien-ced technicians. Director of TT AP isFar East expert Jay J.Brossmann, who is

well experienced in the “under-ground” business down under.

All in all, conditions seem to befavourable for a long and happyfriendship between our mole andthe roo. Good luck to them!

The office building of TT Asia Pacific inArundel.

Colnesse Enterprises’ Grundodrill 12G ona jobsite in Sidney.

Grundodrill 12G, recently purchased by JB Sales’ customerColnesse Enterprises, on a Mack 520HP transporter

Below and on the right:Grundopit 40/60 on a job-site in Darwin. The ma-chine is doing well in theclay soil called Koffee rock

Grundomat 75 installing a pipe in a front yard.

TRACTUELL 9/E8 TRACTUELL 9/E 9

As part of the reconstruction offormer East Germany new motor-ways are being built to link thewest to the east, including theinstallation of emergency road-side phones. Parallel to the A 4between Bad Hersfeld and Friede-wald, contractor Schaub was re-cently subcontracted to install fivesections of telephone cables.

As the motorway is located in anenvironmentally protected area,open trenching was ruled out.Contractor Schaub therefore sub-mitted a quotation for the instal-lation of the cable ducts using hisGrundodrill 10 S directional drill-ing system.

Jobsite report

The total bore length wasthoroughly inspected and thendivided into five bores of 260 m,360 m, 300 m, 200 m and 100 mlengths. Since his investment in theGrundodrill 10 S in late 1994, con-tractor Schaub has installed a totalof 30 km (30,000m) of pipes andducts with his machine and hisoperators were therefore confidentthat they had sufficient experienceand the ideal machine to handleeven the longest bore of the project(360m in length).

Such a bore length had never beenattempted using a Grundodrill 10S

4 tons. Prior to commencement,the 100 m lengths of HDPE pipeswere taken off the pipe trailer andbutt fused ready to be installed at adepth of 1.10m.

As the pilot bore progressed, thetypical clay soil soon gave way toback-filled material includingstone inclusions and the uniquepercussive hammer of the Grun-dodrill 10 S was more than capableof penetrating these changeablesoil conditions. In two subsequentback-reaming steps, the pilot borewas enlarged to 190 and then315mm. In just four operating daysthe total length of 360m had beeninstalled to the entire satisfactionof the contractor and the motor-way authority.

(with 10 tons of thrust and pull-back as well as an integrated per-cussive hammer developing up to28,2 Nm of dynamic thrust). Amulti-duct set of three cable ductsof 110x10mm had to be installedwhich meant a total pipe weight of

New Record Bore 360m

with GRUNDODRILL10S

by contractor Schaub

Particular thanks are extended tothe ambitious Schaub bore crew(photo on the right) consisting ofMike Tommerdich (detection) andReinhard Strey (bore rig operator).Congratulations on this great per-formance.

View from the starting pit to the targetpoint.

The A 4 motorway between Bad Hersfeld and Friedewald in former east Germay.

Above and on the right: GRUNDODRILLduring the pilot bore

Arrival in the target pit.

Short report:

GRUNDODRILL 10 SContractor Riedmüller install-ed a HD-PE pipe Ø 710 mmover a length of 100 m usinghis Grundodrill 10S with abackreamer Ø 900 mm.

Task: Parallel installation of a PE-sewage pressure pipe Ø 710 x40,2 mm; total weight approx.8,6t.

Length of the bore:100 meter in clay soil.

Description:As part of the renewal of thesewer network in the City of

Diameter RecordDiameter RecorDiameter Recordd

Massenbachhausen/Germany apipe was installed using theBypass-technique. In a part of thecity, endangered by flood, a sec-tion of the old sewage mains wasbypassed so that overflowingwater runs off into the new pipe.Due to the experience of TT boreexpert Udo Harer, who assistedthe bore crew, this difficult taskwas done within a few days.

Customer:City of Massenbachhausen/FRG.

with GRUNDODRILL 10 SGRUNDODRILL 10 S

TRACTUELL 9/E10 TRACTUELL 9/E 11

STATICAL PIPE BURSTING with the

hydraulically operated GRUNDOBURST

Information

For the trenchless renovation ofgas or drinking water pipes insensitive soils near neighbouringpipes and cables or buildings,statical pipe bursting withGRUNDOBURST is recommen-dable for pipes from DN 80, insensitive soil conditions withexternal lines (e. g. transitepipes) or buildings close by.

The GRUNDOBURST methodfacilitates an easy pipe renewal.Starting from a pit sized 2,20 mlong and only 0,60 m wide pipescan be installed in both directions.

The Grundoburst is available inthree sizes:Type 400S · thrust 275 kN, pull back 400 kN · for renewal from manhole to

manholeType 400G · thrust 275 kN, pull back 400 kN · for pit operationType 1000G · thrust 610 kN, pull back 1000 kN

at 250 bar · for pit operation

GRUNDOBURST consists of a rigwith hydraulic cylinders, thehydraulic power pack, the QuickLock bursting rods (patented)with bore head for thrusting andvarious expanders for pulling inthe new pipe.

Expanders are available for shortand long pipes from ND 100 up toND 250. HD-PE-pipes can be pul-led in directly from the pipe trailor.

When pulling back the burstingrods the bore profile is expanded inorder to easily pull in the new pipewithout narrowing of the cross-section.

The old pipe line is cut , crackedand pushed into the surroundingsoil. The hydraulic pull force wide-ly avoids dynamic strain of theground.

The patented QuickLock burstingrods are not threaded, they aresimply hooked on, totally stable

Small pit = minimal undergroundworking expenses. The operatornormally stands on top of thebore rig, not next to it.

against pushing and pulling. This isan obvious time saving advantage,as forward thrust and withdrawalare not interrupted. A winch is not necessary for staticpipe bursting. Pushing and pulling

The photo below shows the pushingblade in its starting phase.

Roller blade

Push-type roller blade

back of the bursting rods can beswitched over from manual toautomatic operation. This savestime and eliminates the need of asecond operator.

After the rods have been pushedforward, the bursting process startsby pulling in the pipe. In the targetpit the guiding head is exchangedfor a roller blade with expandinghead and the new pipe is attached.When the rods are pulled back, thepipe is cracked by the advancingroller blade. The expander follow-ing the roller blade displaces thefragments of the old pipe, extends

Patent DE 196 08 980

the bore hole, smoothens and com-pacts the bore channel. To makethe pipe assembly easier, the rollerblade and expanding head with thepipe can be pulled into the pitthrough the bore rig frame. Thepipe is pulled in directly from apipe trailer, either as a coil or as ashort module pipe.

The roller blade can even cut mate-rials such as steel pipes, ductile castiron pipes, HDPE and repair

clamps. The roller blade is availablefor old pipes of DN 100, 150 and200. First, the QuickLock burstingrods are pushed into the old line.Then the bursting process isstarted, while the pipes are pulledin simultaneously.

If the diameter of the old pipe is> DN 80, it has to be cracked duringthe forward thrust by a push-typeroller blade running in front of theQuickLock bursting rods, due tothe rod diameter. After bursting,the pipe is then pulled in.

Advantages at a glance:• drinking water pipes are pulled

in without contamination• no previous cleaning of the old

main required• 1 machine for 11 sizes of pipes

up to 250mm (10")

• two-man operation• no vibration or ground move-

ments in sensitive grounds• minimum operation depth of 1m

(3 ft) suffices• patented QuickLock rods• thrust forces up to 275 kN• pull-back forces up to 400 kN• flexible rod for easy assembly of

HD-PE pipe string• pipe settlements can be coped with• time consuming rod threading is

no longer required • no wear-intensive threaded con-

nections of rods• no winch requirement• easy to learn and operate system• short setting up times• daily performance of 150 to

200m (450 to 600 ft)• pulling of short-length or butt-

fused HD-PE pipes• transportation on small trucks so

that a PE-pipe trailer can betowed at the same time

• direct installation of HD-PEpipes such as the special Tracto-Technik/Botec pipes (availablein short or long lengths) withextruded protection outer layerguaranteeing highest frictionresistance

Hydraulic powerpack

Lockingbolt

Hydraulically operatedtelescopic supportsQuickLock

bursting rods

Height adjustable,pivotable operatingpanel

Anti-slipfoot plate

Extendable guidance mandrel

TRACTUELL 9/E12 TRACTUELL 9/E 13

GRUNDODRILL 20 S with backreamerafter having finished an upsizing bore.

Shortly before starting the pipe-pulling operation, the pipe string is connected to thebackreamer.

Disposal of the boring fluid.

Pulling of the Ø 400 mm gas pressure pipe into the steel pipe.

GRUNDODRILL 20 S in operation.

Working pit with installed steel pipe, backreamer and drill stems.

M ajor gas pipe installation projec-ts are currently under constructionin Germany, part of which is a10km high pressure gas line to beinstalled in and near Cologne.

One 180m bore required the instal-lation of a 400mm (16”) concrete-coated steel gas pipe using hori-zontal directional drilling tech-niques beneath numerous obs-tacles including an under-roadcrossing, railway tracks and a brid-ge. The depth of the pipe instal-lation would be 5m (15ft).

C ontractor LTG from Neuss,Dusseldorf was awarded the con-tract not only on price but alsobecause of their experience onnumerous successful bores whichhad been carried out with varioustypes of horizontal directionaldrilling systems.

To avoid any possible damage tothe concrete coating of the gasmain, LTG were required to installa 600mm x 8mm steel pipe linerinto which the new gas main couldlater be inserted. Each 18m longsteel pipe section was welded toform a continuous 180m long pipeliner which weighed approximate-ly 18 tons. This steel pipe was laidout on site, with the leading edgebeing welded to a dome-endedsteel cone fitted with yoke connec-tion adaptors, fitted between theswivel and the back-reamer.

Although LTG had been usingTracto Technik equipment for anumber of years, on this occasionthey decided to use a large direc-tional drilling machine which hadalready been purchased from analternative supplier. However, onthis project once the pilot bore and

560mm diameter pre-ream hadbeen carried out, LTG’s own rigdid not have sufficient pullingforce to install the 180m long steelpipe string.

T racto Technik to the rescue!Using the latest horizontal direc-tional drilling rig in the range - theGRUNDODRILL 20S - two more

pre-reaming steps of 580mm and840mm diameter were carried out.The final backreaming and steelpipe installation could then begin.However, it was subsequentlydecided to connect the steel pipe toa smaller 740mm backreamer toeliminate further soil removal andthe risk of borehole collapse.

Because of the weight of the steelpipe to be installed (18 tons), a pre-cautionary measure was taken; aGRUNDORAM steel pipe ram-ming hammer was brought to siteso that in the event of the pipeinstallation speed slowing down oreven coming to a standstill, the

GRUNDORAM technique couldbe used to assist forward pro-gress. If this occurred theGRUNDORAM would be atta-ched to the rear of the steel pipeand due to its powerful impactenergy, would assist the normalGRUNDODRILL pipe pullingby adding extra dynamic strokes,similar to the unique impactaction which the GRUNDO-DRILL provides to the bore headduring the pilot bore.

During the first 120m of steelpipe pulling, additional impacthammering was not required.However, when the 740 mm dia-meter backreamer was beneaththe bridge foundations, frictionwas encountered and the pipe

pulling process slowed down.

The GRUNDORAM wasthen connected to thesteel pipe at a reducedair supply which meant

that the steel pipe conti-

nued to be installed at the maxi-mum pullback force of the GRUN-DODRILL 20S of 9 tons.

Later that evening the steel pipearrived in the reception pit, dis-connected from the backreamerand the job was completed to theentire satisfaction of LTG and theGEW Gas Company.

180 m Steel Pipediameter 600 mm

pulled in by GRUNDODRILL

Jobsite report

TRACTUELL 9/E14 TRACTUELL 9/E 15

The expanding head with the new HD-PEdrinking water pipe of 180x16.4mm (7")with external coating is pulled in.

The HD-PE pipe to be pulled in.

The expanding head with HD-PE pipe arrives inside the Grundoburst frame.

The unique (patented) QuickLock bursting rods wiht sleeve and pipe.

Due to space limitations inthe sidewalks of Pielen-hofen, a small town in

Bavaria/Germany, the water andsewage department had decidedto install both a new water andsewage pipe in one open trench.

However, rocky underground andpossible collapse of a 30 year old, 3m high stone wall, the cityengineers finally voted for the newsewage pipe to be installed at adepth of only 1.2m. This ruled outthe originally scheduled installa-tion of both pipes in just onetrench. For the drinking waterpipe a possible installation abovethe sewage pipe was certain tocause frost problems while thepossible installation below thesewage pipe was ruled out forhygiene reasons. A different solu-tion was urgently required.

The local TRACTO-TECHNIKsales partner suggested trenchlesspipe renovation as an option.While open trenching would havecaused considerable nuisance tothe neighbouring households,

trenchless pipe renovation requi-red only a few small pits for theconnection of the laterals.

Over a total length of 168m, theleaking 4" cast iron pipe was to bereplaced by a 180x16.4mm HD-PEpipe with external coating (produ-ced by Egeplast/Germany).

The (patented) static berstliningsystem GRUNDOBURST fromTRACTO-TECHNIK with a240mm size expander was used. Aspecial adapter was produced tofill the voids with a lubricant,pumped by an additional electricmud pump. Static pipe crackingwas not used in this case to mini-mise possible vibrations, due tothe immediate vicinity of neigh-bouring buildings, stone walls andthe surface water pipe.

The GRUNDOBURST systemcomprises of a robust cradle, ahydraulic power unit, (patented)Quicklock rods and a variety ofaccessories. Setting up a GRUN-DOBURST for operation is fastand easy. This operator friendly

unit does not require extensivetechnical back-ground knowled-ge, although experienced opera-tors can effect up to 150 or 200m(450 to 600 ft) of burstlining perday. A prime use of the GRUN-DOBURST is for drinking waterpipes as this economic pipe repla-cement system does not requireany pipe cleaning prior to the pipereplacement or pipe pulling.

The rig itself has been designed tobe telescopic and adjust to variouspit lengths from 1.2m (4 ft) to 1.9m(6.1 ft) against the supporting pitwalls while leaving space toretrieve the bursting head andexpander. By fixing the rig againstthe pit walls, safe guidance isgiven to the burst rods. When alonger section of pipe has to bereplaced, the rig is ideally positio-ned in a pit half way between two

exit pits so that two bores into theopposite direction are possiblefrom just one pit.

During pipe pulling of the set ofQuickLock rods introduced intothe first section, the same rods arepushed into the next section ofpipe. It is not necessary to disas-semble or newly install a set ofburst rods. Thanks to a guidepipe, the rods follow the course ofthe old pipe and may even copewith slight settlements in the old

pipe. To over-come possibleobstacles thefull thrust

force of 275 kN can be applied. Apulling winch is not required.

On arrival of the guide sleeve inthe exit pit, a bursting head andexpander are then attached towhich are connected with the newpipe. An angle connection is usedto faciliate attachment of the newpipe. During the pipe pulling pro-cess, the old main is fragmentedby the bursting head. Fragmentedpipe sections are immediately dis-placed into the surrounding soilwhile the pipe diameter is upsizedand the bore tunnel smoothened.

To faciliate subsequent pipe pul-ling, the bursting head and expan-der with the pipe can be pulled allthe way into the frame of the borerig. At a pressure of 250 bar, a

pulling force of 400 kN is

applied. However, on this particu-lar site the GRUNDOBURST capa-cities were not fully required as12.5 tons (125 kN) sufficed toinstall the 168m in half an opera-ting day. Although at one time, thepulling force increased to 30 tons(300 kN) and the utility companyanticipated the existence of arepair (ductile iron) joint.

View of the site in Pielenhofen

Renovationof a Water

Pressure Pipe with the using

Grundoburst

burstlining technique

Jobsite report

TRACTUELL 9/E16 TRACTUELL 9/E 17

In 1998 a 25 years old project startedconcerning a gas pipeline connectingBrazil and Bolivia. Linking the pro-duction area in Bolivia to southeastBrazil, the crowdiest and biggestindustrial area in the country, the

GRUNDORAM Koloss ramming the steelpipe ND 1000 over a length of 72 munder a highway.

View of the steel pipe after soil removal.

Pulling of the covered gas pipe into thesteel pipe.

pipeline has to cross mountains inBolivia, a huge swamp land insideBrazilian territory until reaching thefarmyards of São Paulo State on thefirst section of this project.

Part of this contract was delivered toTechint, responsible for the sectioninside São Paulo State between thecities of Paulinia and Castilho in atotal of about 520 km of pipes. Thehad exactly 33 crossings to be done,so Techint started using their boringmachines on the jobsite but, after the3rd crossing they were challenged byNovatec do Brasil, a company spe-cialized in pipe ramming trenchlesstechnology, to test their rammingmachines.

The Novatec staff came to the jobsiteon August 26th challenged to install

more than 1.100 m of Ø 1.016 mm(40") casing steel pipes on 30 cros-sings from 24 to 72 m length beforethe deadline of December 25th. Toachieve this they used their twoGrundoram Koloss machines, sup-plied by Sondeq Comercial Ltda.,TT’s long-time distributor in Brazil.The two crews of five peolple eachwere under responsibility of theengineer and company partner Mr.Fábio Livio de Moraes who has a 5years background on rammers.

At the end of the project 8 m of pipeØ 1.016 mm had been rammed andcleaned a day per equipment. Thepipes were cleaned with compress-ed air or excavated manually. Aftercleaning the Ø 812 mm (32") gaspipelines, pipes with a concretecover of 50 mm were installed insidethe casing by the Techint’s crew.

With this jobsite Novatec had maybedone the biggest crossing ever madewith a Grundoram in Brazil: a Ø1.016 mm crossing of 72 m lengthunder a highway. The completeinstallation took 6 days with onecrew ramming 12 meters of pipeduring the day and another crewcleaning the pipe section during thenight.

The biggestGRUNDORAM jobsite in Brazil ever

by Jorge Dequech of Sondeq Ltda., São Paolo

The biggestGRUNDORAM jobsite in Brazil ever

by Jorge Dequech of Sondeq Ltda., São Paolo

Retailer reportWhen Gene Miller says it was atough job, you better believe it.The man known by all as Miller theDriller is celebrating 50 years in thebusiness. How does a pioneer in thetrenchless industry celebrate 50years? He tackles the biggest piperamming job of his career.

The pipe ram took place underneatha section of I-90 about 8 miles west ofBozeman for JTL Group, Inc. JTL is ahighway contractor with a gravel piton the north side of I-90. They areopening another pit on the southside. The bore under the interstatewill facilitate a conveyor system bet-ween the two pits so wash and grad-ing facilities can be shared. A largebore was needed. The 66 inch ø pipefor this job makes it one of the big-gest ø pipe rams to take place inNorth America in some of thetoughest conditions anywhere.

According to Miller, an initial at-tempt to bore the 160 foot run witha conventional auger jack and borefailed. He couldn't make any head-way because of the gravel, rocksand boulders present in the soil.

Miller turned to pipe ramming, amethod he pioneered in his coun-try. Miller already had a KolossGrundoram from TT Technologiesin his pipe ramming arsenal, butknew that this job needed more. Hewas aware of a pipe ramming mon-ster and knew where to find it.

Miller contacted TT TechnologiesProduct Specialist Mike Schwagerand the crew was off to Aurora,Illinois to pick up the world's big-gest pipe ramming tool, a 24 inchØ, 10,580 pound, Taurus Grundo-ram. Over the years, Miller's jobshave become bigger and bigger.His equipment needs have increa-sed as well. The job in Montanarequired 3 semi-trucks and apickup.

Once the Miller crew returned tothe Montana site, they began pre-paring the pipe and TaurusGrundoram for the big job ahead.Arntzen Corporation (Rockford,IL.) supplied the 66 inch Ø steelpipe sections for the ram. Theywere 3/4 inch thick and 20 feetlong. Arntzen also fabricated a rol-

GiantPipe Ram in Montana/USA

with TAURUS

led cone reducing adapter to gofrom a 66 inch ø to a 60 inch Ø. Turnbuckles were used to hold the redu-cing adapter in place. This saved atremendous amount of time becau-se it eliminated the need to weld theadapter to each pipe section.

A 60 inch segmented ram conebrought the ø down to 48 inches. A48 inch ram cone was then used toreduce the ø to 30 inches. A 30 inchsoil removal adapter was the lastpiece. It reduced the diameter againand connected to the Grundoram.This configuration is key to a success-ful pipe ram. It ensures a tight fit bet-ween the tool and the pipe, allowsspoil to be ejected during the ramand helps minimize pipe flaring.

A cutting shoe was fabricated on site.The ram went very well, with ramtimes ranging from 30 to 75 minutesper 20 foot section. Welds took 6 to 7hours. While ground conditionsdid not stop the progress of the ram-ming tool, it did make spoil removaldifficult. According to Miller, clea-ning out the spoil was the most chal-lenging portion of the job. The spoilremoval adapter helped, but withrocks ranging in size from softballsto basketballs, it's easy to see why itwas so difficult.

Miller's crew enlisted the help of apiece of equipment called a Dingo.The Dingo is a one man mini skidsteer manufactured in Australia.

The last 20 foot segment was ram-med in on June 6th, bringing the totalto 160 feet and bringing to an end thebiggest pipe ram of Miller's career,so far. The project took, from prepa-ration to clean up, just 12 days.

GiantPipe Ram in Montana/USA

with TAURUS

Miller the Driller

TRACTUELL 9/E18 TRACTUELL 9/E 19

Almost every city or municipality hasone: a certain job or project thatremains unfinished or is not attempt-ed, sometimes for years, because it isinherently too difficult for currenttechnology or too great a risk forcontractors. Occasionally, however, acontractor comes along with the rightattitude and the right tool to makethe impossible possible. Such was thecase recently for Hoffman & Hoffmanin the City of Waverly, Iowa/USA.

Hoffman & Hoffman are no stran-gers to underground electrical work.They are also no strangers toWaverly and its limestone bedrocksoil. They have done battle therebefore, but this job was different. A21m (70 ft) long hole, 152 mm (6") indiameter, 914 mm (36") deep, undera state highway through solid lime-stone – it seemed impossible. That’swhat everyone thought until theywere introduced to a pit launched,steerable, mini directional bore rigwith a powerful punch – Tracto-Technik‘s GRUNDOPIT.

About half a year ago, there hadbeen an automobile accident thattook out one of the overhead powerpoles downtown. Restoring the ae-rial lines was not an option becausethe poles were too close to the high-way. The power line lost during theaccident was a tie between two fee-ders. It served as a backup line if oneof the feeders was lost. While notessential, it needed to be replaced toensure back up power and maintainreliability within the city’s powerdistribution system.

The City of Waverly turned toHoffmann & Hoffmann to get the jobdone. Going 21 m under a 4-lanehighway, which runs directlythrough a town, is tough enough,but boring through limestonebedrock was a a real challenge forcrew and equipment. In addition tothe extremely tough soil conditions,a trenchless method would need tobe able, if needed, to circumvent amultitude of existing undergroundutilities including a telephone line,gas, sewer and water mains, as wellas a 6-way fiber optic utility duct.

To successfully complete this job, thepiece of equipment would have to bepowerful enough to bore through

Grundopit:Mini Directional - MEGA JOB

limestone and have steering capabi-lities. In addition, the work area wastight, a conventional drill would notwork. The tool would also have to becompact.

Sizing up the situationAs in the past, the Hoffmans lookedto TT Technologies for assistance.Product specialist Jay Clark camedown, evaluated the job and finally

recommended to use the GRUNDO-PIT mini steerable bore rig. Its com-pact nature made it perfect for thisjob. But everyone wondered if themini directional had enough powerto successfully tackle the solid rock.

The job was scheduled for Tuesday.A Waverly utility crew spent the bet-ter part of the preceeding Mondayjack-hammering a launch pit for thedrill through the sidewalk and lime-stone below. The launch pit was1,800 mm (6 ft) long, 900 mm (3 ft)wide and 1,200 mm (4 ft) deep.Another pit of similar dimensionswas dug on the opposite side of thestreet in softer soil.

The boreAfter creating a small pilot bore withthe jack-hammer, the Hoffman crewwas ready to tackle the solid lime-stone.By using the DigiTrak Mark III recei-ver with remote, location and depthof the drill stem was known at alltime. The remote allowed the opera-tor to monitor depth and locationfrom the launch pit.The areas of back-fill around thesewer and water mains were crush-ed rock. The Hoffman crew was ableto steer the drill at these pointsbecause the crushed rock was muchmore forgiving than the solid lime-stone.

The bore‘s path traveled directlyabove a water main at 1.8 m (6ft), asewer main at 2.4 m (8 ft) and a 6-way fiber optic utility duct and agas main both at 965 mm (38”) inthe street . That‘s tough in any con-ditions, but in limestone it wasincredible.

The initial bore was started aroundnoon. It took the 50 mm dill stemabout 2 hours to make its way tothe other side. After the initialbore, the crew put on a 76 mm (3”)backreamer and proceeded withthe back-ream. About an hour anda half later there was a 76 mm (3”)hole through 21 m (70 ft) of stone.After sending the drill to the otherside, the Hoffman crew put on a101 mm (4”) reamer and back-rea-med again. Approximately ano-ther hour and a half later therethey had created a 101 mm (4”)hole.

The pull-backA spool of 101 mm (4”) Ø SDRPlexco HD-PE pipe sat waiting onthe other side. When installed,three 15 volt electrical cableswould run through the conduitand join two feeder lines on oppo-site sides of the street. After thesecond back-ream, the crew pre-pared for the third and final back-ream with pullback of the productpipe. The moment of thruth was athand.

A 152 mm (6”) backreamer wasattached to the drill stem and aPE-pulling eye to the HD-PE pipe.The backreamer and the pullingeye were linked and the pull backbegan. Approximately one and ahalf hour later the backreamer wasthrough and the pipe was in place.

The right mixIn addition to the tool, the propermix of Bentonite and water forlubrication was critical to this job.In this soil conditions, the Bentoniteand water mixture acted as a coo-lant and helped reduce the exten-sive friction of the limestone.A 1.140 l (300 gal) GrundomuddBentonite mixing system was usedto mix and deliver the straightBentonite, water and polymer. Inthis heavy rock situation, highlevels were used to maximize thecooling capabilities of the fluid. Thehigh fluid flow was also used tocarry out the rock cuttings duringthe back-reams. The crew nearlyused the entire 1,140 l Bentonitemixture by the end of the day.

UnbelievableAfter the last drill stem was re-moved, the Grundopit was lifted outof the launch pit with a back-hoe.Then an additional 1.2m (4 ft) ofHD-PE slack was pulled throughwith the back-hoe and a tow chain.Both ends of the pipe were cappedand the clean up began.

It took the crew a little over 6 hoursto complete the bore, 3 successiveback-reams and the product pull-back. The impossible was made pos-sible. All it took was the right tooland the right contractor for the job.

The legendary GRUNDO-MAT logo stood our a-mongst the 30,000 runnerstaking part in last year’sLondon Marathon.

Matthew Izzard is picturedsporting the distinctivesmiling mole as he crossesthe finishing line, havingraised over £1,000 for localcharities. Matthew is anArea Sales Manager for TTUK and has been with thecompany for the past 10years.

GRUNDOMAT is often seenround (under) the London steetsand it therefore came as no surpri-se that GRUNDOMAT once againarrived on target..... having com-pleted the 26 mile run.

GRUNDOMAT

on Marathon Runin London

GRUNDOMAT

on Marathon Runin London

View across the 4-lane highway under which the Ø 101 mm HD-PE pipe was installed.

21 m bore made through solid limestoneunder the busy highway.

In place after 6 hours, the HD-PE conduitwas capped.

Compact in size and weighing only 200kg, the GRUNDOPIT is ideal for workingin tight conditions.

Jobsite report

Sporting event