Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) Crossing Method StatementWhat is Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) ? HORIZONTAL DIRECTIONAL DRILLING UNDERGROUND BENEATH RIVER, ELECTRONIC HEAD CANAL, ROAD, AND PULL IN PIPES BASIC DRILLING MACHINE HDD = HORIZONTAL DIRECTIONAL DRILLING 1S DRILLING UNDERGROUND. rm LANDSCAPES, HORIZONTALLY IN CERTAIN. i %Contents 1 Introduction 2 Design of Crossing 2A Gootochnical Assessment 2.2 Dill Profile 23° Puling Calculations 2.4 Tooling Schedule 25 Mud Retun Design 3 Mobilisation and Site Preparation 3A Access 32 Bisting Services 33 Dill Stes 3.4 Water Requirements 3.5 Dill Profile and Setting Out 3.8 Anchorage 37 Rig Up 4 Plot Drilling Operation 4A Guidance System 42. Diiling Fluid 5 Reaming Operation(s) 6 Pipe-String Preparation 7 Pull Back Operation 8 Typical HDD Site Layouts & Photographs1 Introduction ‘The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on how the HDD is likely to be undertaken. Until such time as a specialist contractor is contacted, the contents of this report should be treated as provisional because there are several options that could be ‘employed depending on the type and size of the drilling machine used and the preference of the contractor for other issues. 2 Design of Crossing Prior to commencing site works, a dril profile, tooling schedules and pulling calculations will be prepared by the dling contractor and/or drill designer for client approval 2.1 Geotechnical Assessment Prior to any design work on the HDD crossing, an analysis of any available geotechni information for the area of the dill will be undertaken. Bore Holes will be required on either side of the crossing to a depth of at least 2 m below the road or ground level ‘Where necessary, the bore hole cores will be subjected to a laboratory analysis to provide soils type and strength information to the HDD contractor and/or HDD designer. 2.2 Drill Profile Based on the information provided by the client, @ drill profile will be produced showing the local geological formations and the proposed dril dimensions including the entry and exit points and angles the overall length of the crossing, the radii to be used when changing direction and the levels of cover maintained throughout the crossing. 2.3 Pulling Calculations. Utilising the information within the drill profile and industry standard good working practice itis possible to estimate the major forces acting upon the product pipe and driling equipment during the installation of the pipe, once the forces have been analysed the buoyancy system for the pullback can be designed so that the minimum forces possible are induced within the pipe as itis installed within the pre drilled hole 2.4 Tooling Schedule ‘The Tooling Schedule is based on the drill profile and the geotechnical information available, the schedule describes the types and sizes of tooling which should be the most efficient to produce the desired bore. Once the tooling has been confirmed, a construction programme can be produced,2.5 Mud Return Design Depending on the location and length of the HDD, various methods are available for returning the drill mud from the receive pit to the dill lunch site. The main methods are to transport the fluid by road tanker, lay an above ground mud return line or drill a separate smaller HDD and install a mud return tine within the additional drilled hole. The cost effectiveness and practicalities of each potential method will need to be assessed as part of the overall HDD design. 3 Mobilisation and Site Preparation The following activities will be completed prior to the arrival of the HDD equipment on site. 3.1 Access Access is required to the entry and exit sites of a suitable quality for all-terrain mobile cranes, 20° trucks, and ongoing use by delivery vehicles. Therefore any necessary preparatory works, ground stabilisation, hard standings and road improvement will be completed prior to the arrival of the HDD equipment, 3.2 Existing Services All existing underground services shall be located, marked, and protected as necessary. Any services that may conflict with the proposed installations or site operations will be exposed to prove their exact location and appropriate measures taken to protect them from damage and to ensure the safety of site operations. 3.3. Drill Sites A suitable working area is required at both sides of the drilled crossing, these will be striped of topsoil and fenced off with either stock proof fencing or security fencing as required. Stone / hardcore is then laid to provide a level, firm area approximately 20m x 20m for the HOD rig and ancillary equipment, and at the pipe side of the crossings, an area approximately 15m x 10m is required to encompass the exit pit and mud lagoons. ‘The plan area of the lagoons will vary depending on the dimensions of the crossing, but will be a minimum of 5 m x 10 m. The depth of the lagoons will be generally be 1.5m but may also vary according to local topography. In any event excavations shall be battered to a safe angle of repose and excavations fenced off with ‘Heras’ type fencing. AAs well as for mud storage excavations will be required at the entry and exit points of the crossing. The entry and exit pits shall be 2m x 2 m x 1.2 m deep. These pits shall be safely battered and securely fenced.3.4 Water Requirements ‘A non-saline supply of water is required for mixing dling mud and general site usage, during driling and reaming operations the volume of water required is an estimated average of 10m*/hr with an estimated maximum demand of 20m/hr provided circulation is, maintained. Therefore depending on the type of water source and the distance of the source from the rig site some preparatory works may be required to produce the initial volume of water required for pilot drilling. 3.5 Drill Profile and Setting Out ‘According to the construction drill profile the entry and exit points will be marked. Also the Centre line of the pipeline shall be marked at 10m centres where feasible. 3.6 Anchorage Depending on the size and type of drill rig used, an anchorage assembly will be designed and constructed. The anchorage is used to securely hold the drill rig in position throughout the diiling works including the installation of the product pipe. It also ensures that the entry angle and position are as designed and constant throughout the works. Generally for larger crossings a reinforced conorete anchor block is used however, sheet piles or other designs have been used effectively in previous projects. 3.7 Rig Up Upon delivery of the dling rig and ancillary equipment to the previously prepared work area, the plant items shall be situated in their working positions and all the necessary connections made. The drill rig is set up, anchored and adjusted to give the required ground entry angle. 4 Pilot Drilling Operation During the pilot driling, a drilling head is driven forward along a predefined dill profile by the driling rig erected above ground. The push force generated at the drilling rig is transmitted by the driling rods to the driling head. At the beginning of the pilot driling, the first part of the down hole assembly (DHA) consisting of drill bit, bent sub and non- magnetic driling rods is pushed into the ground at the previously determined entry angle by the dri rig.Driling fluid is then pumped at high pressures through the hollow drill pipes to the DHA where it jets out from the end disturbing the soil, however, this jetting method is only feasible in very soft formations, In firmer soils, driling fluid flows into a mud motor, which houses auger like fights, thereby producing rotation within the DHA. This in turn rotates the driling bit used for breaking the formation. In both cases, the driling fluid exits the DHA at high pressure suspending the loosened material and transporting it to the surface by flowing back through the annulus. Each driled rod is followed by another one from the drilling rig and the driling process continues in cycles until the drilling head punches out at the target destination. 4.4 Guidance System ‘The respective position of the driling head underground is determined with the aid of a sensor located directly behind the drilling head, which measures an induced magnetic field produced by an electric coil or beacon in conjunction with the existing earth's magnetic and gravitational field Data collected from the downhole instruments provide the azimuth and inclination of the hole and rotational position of the drill. This data combined with accurate record keeping on the length of drill pipe inserted into the hole allow simple mathematical computations to be made to record the progress and position of the pilot aril The DHA contains an angled section (the bent sub) to give the drill a bias in one direction. By rotating the dril string, the tool face of the downhole driling bit is turned, altering the driling bias and so changing the driling direction. In this way the direction of the dill can be controlled. ‘Once the pilot hole has been completed, it is normal to de-mobilise the guidance system and the subsequent reaming operations will naturally follow the original pilot hole through which there is always a dril string until the product pipe is installed. 4.2 — Drilling Fluid ‘The dling fluid is a slurry or “mud” produced by properly mixing, ground and refined bentonite with other chemicals (depending on the chemical properties of the water used and the rock types to be drilled) and fresh water. The drilling fluid reduces driling torque, imparts lubrication to the pipe and provides annular flushing of the freshly cut borehole debris and provides support to the bored hole. ‘Once a pilot hole is complete, drilling fluid will escape from both sides of the bore thus the mud lagoons on the exit side wil fil with used driling mud. To reduce the expense andtime involved in continually mixing fresh criling fluid, the mud which emerges from the hole is transported by road tanker or mud return line to the dill site where itis cleaned and reused. On smaller crossings a surface laid return line, normally 3" polyethylene pipe, or tankers can be utilised. Where this is not feasible, a pipe is installed within an inital pilot bore to act as a conduit for driling fluid and a second pilot is drilled for the product line. 5 Reaming Operation(s) After the main pilot hole has been completed it will be necessary to enlarge the pilot hole sufficiently to receive the product pipe. This is achieved using pre-reaming passes with reaming tools. The size of the product pipe will dictate the number of and sizes of any reaming passes. Pre-reaming tools are attached to the drill string at the exit point. The drill string is then withdrawn back through the pilot hole, the reamer being rotated by the drill rig as itis drawn back towards the rig. Drill pipe is added behind as the reamer progresses, thus ensuring that a string of drill pipes is always present in the hole. Reaming tools vary in design dependent upon the type of ground being encountered. As a rule for soft grounds, barrel reamers are used whereas for medium to hard ground tly cutters are used. For harder formations, such as rock, hole openers are required. Drilling fluid is jetted through the reamer to lubricate during cutting and to enable the lining of the hole to remain stable. This procedure is repeated until the drilled hole has reached the intended final diameter. The consecutive cutting tools should always work to the same centerline as the previous drilled hole. The conventional method of ‘back reaming’, when the reamer is pulled from the pipe site to the rig site, is occasionally replaced by ‘forward reaming’, when the reamer is pushed into the ground from the driling rig. In his instance, the pilot hole serves as a {guide for the roaming tool. The hole is typically cut to a size of 50 % to 100 % larger than the product pipe it has to carty. This is to facilitate the passage of soil cuttings as well as the pipe and to allow for soil expansion during the pulling operation,SCTE PULL BACK PIPELINE PULLBACK