River Crossing Without the River: Directional Drilling

CHALLENGE: Intall 12" diameter pipe without open road cut or disturbing riverbed
SOLUTION: Directional drill and pipe fuse 12" diameter PVC DR 14 pipe 10 ft under creek bed

George Washington accomplished his river crossing in a boat, some people swim, others wade right in, but in certain situations it's best to cross the river without ever touching the water. Team Elmer's accomplished this on the Three Mile Road watermain relocation under Mitchell Creek. Yes, under the creek. When East Bay Township and Grand Traverse County Department of Public Works needed to relocate watermain due to the bridge widening project at Three Mile Road and US-31, Team Elmer's answered the call with their Directional Bore Machine, the Ditchwitch 2720 drill rig.{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}

The delicate project, which included crossing Mitchell Creek, required a new approach to prevent damage to the river bed, control costs, and minimize impact to the creek water quality.

"The traditional approach included a bore and jack process which would have been more difficult, required more shoring, a larger disturbance area, a large amount of dewatering pumps, and an immense increase in costs. We were able to avoid all those things with directional drilling," stated Harry Luzius, Project Engineer of Gourdie Fraser, Inc., the company that designed and inspected the installation of the watermain.

The Elmer's drill crew set up a safe distance from the creek bed and side slopes in two retention pits. Retention pits are used to start and end the drill process while containing any viscous "mud" used to keep the drill bit moving through the earth and rock. There is soil disturbance in the process but it is well removed from impacting the river bed.

The goal for the project was to place 12" diameter Fusible PVC DR 14 watermain pipe 10 ft. under Mitchell Creek. With only a 3 ft. bulls-eye to thread the pipe through and an extremely difficult compound angle, crews worked diligently to complete the sensitive project. The drill crew continuously bore to the 10 ft. deep mark and simultaneously curved out to arc around the future wing wall location of the bridge project. "It's a big benefit not having to disturb the river," stated Doug Campeau, Field Manager for the Grand Traverse County Department of Public Works. "The crew was good to work with. They get the job done," Campeau added.

Luzius thought the project was a success. "It went well. That's kind of anticlimactic, but that's what you want in situations like this. You want it to be anti-climatic. You want things to go well."

Team Elmer's installed 240 lineal ft. of the fusible watermain pipe to bypass the creek bed. The Three Mile Road Bridge widening project will continue through fall. Once completed motorist will be able to use the new bridge for another river crossing option, by going over it.