Sacramento, Fair Oaks, Citrus Heights, Carmichael, Orangevale, Folsom, Rocklin, Roseville, Granite Bay, Yuba City, Marysville, and surrounding areas
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Directional Boring
Mainly because of its elimination of disturbances to surrounding natural habitats, directional boring is the most preferred method for pipeline installation and construction as of recently.
Directional boring, also known as horizontal directional drilling (HDD), is an advanced technology in pipe and utility installation that allows for greater accuracy and flexibility in placement, and ultimately eliminates the need for costly digging, large work crews, road closures, and various other complications brought by traditional digging and pipe installations.
The traditional system of underground digging for pipe installation comes with various setbacks and is far more disruptive, ineffective and outdated than the innovative method of directional boring.
French Connection Plumbing offers our professional directional boring services to greater Sacramento, California clients as the best alternative for their next plumbing repair, maintenance or installation project.​
CALL (916) 833-7618
As an experienced directional boring contractor, French Connection Plumbing offers minimal surface disturbance to ensure that our clients’ commercial or residential Sacramento property remains aesthetically pleasing and beautiful. In addition to minimal surface disturbance, opting for our directional boring services will save you time and money while keeping your property unharmed and intact.
Keep your property and pocketbook happy with French Connection Plumbing’s professional directional boring services.
What is Directional Boring
It’s pretty extraordinary how pipelines can be placed underneath bodies of water, railways, highways, environmentally-sensitive areas, and urban locations without disturbing the surrounding environment nor hindering traffic or urban activities for construction through the use of directional boring.
At French Connection Plumbing, our directional boring service is a non-invasive, minimal-impact method that follows a relatively shallow radius along a specified underground path. Directional boring offers compelling advantages over traditional pipeline installations that can be too costly and ultimately leave your Sacramento property in shambles.
How directional drilling works:
Step 1: Drill the Pilot Hole
The first step of directional boring is drilling a pilot hole. The pilot hole is horizontally drilled with French Connection Plumbing’s directional boring machine and continues under and across the predetermined design path. An electronic transmitter is directly behind the directional drilling cutting head and sends a signal to the surface to be read by our experienced plumbing technicians in order to steer the bore path in any desired direction.
Step 2: Reaming the Horizontal Boring
Once the pilot hole has been completed, the borehole must be enlarged to a suitable diameter for the product pipeline to fit through. At French Connection Plumbing, we refer to this step in the process as “reaming”. The reamer is attached to the drill string on the opposite end of the borehole from the drill and pulled back into the pilot hole. Cement slurry is pumped into the directionally drilled borehole to maintain the stability of the hole and flush out the excess underground components.
Step 3: Pullback Operations
Once the directionally drilled hole is enlarged, the directional boring electrical conduit can be pulled through it. The pipeline is prefabricated at the end of the bore opposite of the drill rig while a reamer is attached to the drill string and then connected to the product by a pulling head and swivel. The swivel allows for the reamer to run without the product turning, while the directional drilling rig begins rotating and pulling on the drill string to ultimately circulate drilling fluids. The pullback continues until the reamer exits the bore path by the directional drill rig and the pipeline is in place.
Step 4: Pipe Installation
Finally, the pipeline is pulled into the enlarged hole, creating a continuous segment of pipe underground and exposed only at the two initial endpoints. This last step of the directional drilling process includes pressure testing to ensure the integrity of the pipe.
How to operate a directional boring machine on your own, you ask?
At French Connection Plumbing, we don’t ever recommend operating a directional boring machine on your own, unless you are properly certified and experienced to do so. Instead, hire the plumbing professionals at French Connection Plumbing to do the directional boring job for you, and in the end, you and your Sacramento property will be glad that you did.
Directional Boring Near Me
It’s pretty extraordinary how pipelines can be placed underneath bodies of water, railways, highways, environmentally-sensitive areas, and urban locations without disturbing the surrounding environment nor hindering traffic or urban activities for construction through the use of directional boring.
At French Connection Plumbing, our directional boring service is a non-invasive, minimal-impact method that follows a relatively shallow radius along a specified underground path. Directional boring offers compelling advantages over traditional pipeline installations that can be too costly and ultimately leave your property in shambles.
Durability
Directional boring uses tough materials with longer lifespans and greater accuracy to ultimately prevent damages during and after installation. In some cases, pipes that were run under bridges and across rivers were exposed to elements that lead to major wear and tear, cutting the pipe’s lifespan by 50 to 75%.
Shorter Installation Time
Directional boring is a much faster process than traditional pipeline installation practices. Drilling horizontally under the ground without primarily digging vertically, and then across, gives us all the more time to perfect your next plumbing service with French Connection Plumbing.
Lower Cost
If directional boring is faster, that also means that is it cheaper. Time is money, no matter what profession you’re in. Less dirt to replace and dispose of also saves time and money. Since directional boring requires fewer technicians, contractors will also save money in terms of labor, which ultimately drives the cost of directional boring for potential clients even further.
Less Disruption
Directional boring addresses two disruption factors; landscaping and time. As previously mentioned, directional boring displaces less soil and doesn’t require digging down through the entire length of the pipe or line, which means your landscaping will be preserved. An initial hole is dug at the start of the pipe, but the rest is done underground which won’t tear up your exterior landscape.
Flexibility
Directional boring allows placement of pipes, water lines, sewer lines, and utilities where obstacles are usually an issue. You can lay pipe where it may have been too costly, or even impossible, to do before in problem areas with directional drilling.
Less Soil Contamination
There is a smaller chance that contaminated soil will spread above-ground with directional boring during the drilling process because directional boring pushes the soil to the side, rather than the surface
Fewer Permit Issues
Whether the drilling is for a residential or commercial purpose, directional boring usually requires less extensive permitting because it creates less of a disturbance, produces less debris, and doesn’t require blocking traffic as traditional drilling does.