Latest Articles

Marker Ball Technology Helps Prevent Excavation Damage

Excavation damage is one of the most significant threats to the integrity of underground utility assets. Some utility lines cannot be detected with standard locating tools, so researchers are exploring new applications of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to enhance utility locating operations.

TT Technologies Grundodrill 4X

The compact Grundodrill 4X is designed for residential service, small diameter main installations, last mile operations, and gas pipeline applications, offering 9,800 pounds of thrust and pullback.

SAK/Quest Completes Austin’s Downtown Wastewater Tunnel

Far beneath the surface of Austin’s Lady Bird Lake ‒ a 416-acre water reservoir that provides recreational opportunities as well as flood control ‒ years of intense “dirty work” took place, largely unnoticed by local citizens, as crews labored to create a huge wastewater tunnel that ran as deep as 80 feet underground.

Weiler Wire Brushes

Weiler Corporation offers a full assortment of high performance, American made wire brushes engineered specifically for use on 4 ½-inch right angle grinders.

Crawler Tractors and Pipelayers (Sidebooms): Equipment Spotlight

Pipelayers and crawler tractors from John Deere, Volvo CE, Pipeline Machinery, Case, Midwestern Manufacturing Company and Caterpillar.

2013 Pipeline Construction Report

Underground Construction and Pipeline & Gas Journal’s 2013 survey figures indicate 116,837 miles of pipelines are planned and under construction worldwide. Of these, 83,806 represent projects in the planning worldwide design phase while 33,031 reflect various stages of construction.

January 2013 Ad Index

Advertisers from the print edition of Underground Construction, January 2013, Vol. 68 No. 1.

Large Rig Market Profiles: Carving A Niche In Rock

Ohio-based H&H Enterprises is a directional drilling contractor specializing in making difficult installations, most of them in hard rock.

These days, much of the company’s work is in energy shale fields of the Northeastern United States, making road, river and stream crossings on segments of pipeline routes where open-cut construction is not feasible or practical, says Jason Hockran, H&H vice-president/owner.

Editor's Log: Best Guesses & Fingers Crossed

The November elections are over and the nation has survived. But the question remains: when will the much ballyhooed economic recovery begin in earnest? It looks like 2013 is going to be another interesting and challenging year in which the underground infrastructure market must endeavor to persevere. And we will.

Robotic Tool Makes Direct Assessment A Reality

New federal pipeline integrity rules require utility companies to evaluate thousands of gas mains buried beneath highways, railroad tracks and airport runways – each and every one cased inside a larger pipe. The research and development team at ULC Robotics in New York has developed a robotic inspection tool that is capable of inspecting and gathering critical data about the integrity of cased pipe.