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From the field

Field Notes From DUGS

Practical information about directional drilling, underground utility installation, site planning, and working around existing infrastructure.

Ditch Witch directional drill on a highway shoulder with a support truck, set up for a crossing under the road
Directional drillingNov 4, 202615 min read

Auger boring vs directional drilling for cased road and rail crossings

Auger boring jacks a steel casing on line and grade; HDD steers longer and deeper without one. A crew lead compares pit size, accuracy, diameter, soil and cost.

Two Ditch Witch directional drills set up on the lawn of an apartment complex for fiber optic conduit installation without trenching the grounds
Fiber and telecomOct 30, 202614 min read

Fiber optic conduit installation by bore: plan the splices first

Fiber optic conduit installation by directional bore: bend radius, pull tension, innerduct vs microduct, handhole spacing and what the splicer needs from you.

Illustration of duct bank installation in cross-section: twelve conduits on spacers, rebar at the corners, a concrete envelope with a red-dyed top layer, and warning tape above it under pavement
Data centersOct 28, 202615 min read

Duct bank installation for data centers: encased once, never dug up

Duct bank installation for data centers, from a Georgia crew: what the inspector checks before the pour, why every run gets a mandrel, and where HDD ties in.

Aerial view of a directional drill working inside a fenced work zone on a paved commercial site, cones and crew around the bore pit, a trenchless pipe installation with no open trench
Directional drillingOct 23, 202615 min read

Trenchless pipe installation: choosing HDD, auger boring or a missile

A site manager's guide to trenchless pipe installation: a decision matrix for HDD, auger boring, missile boring and pipe ramming, and when open cut still wins.

HDD contractor crew member at a Ditch Witch JT32 rig on an airfield, lines running from the rig to a pool of drilling fluid on the grass
Hiring a contractorOct 21, 202615 min read

Hiring an HDD contractor: licensing, insurance and bonding to verify

Georgia has no directional drilling license. What to verify before hiring an HDD contractor: certificate of insurance line by line, bonds, GDOT registration.

Directional drill with a water-tank support vehicle feeding it by hose, set up on grass beside an airfield runway
Safety and locatingOct 16, 202615 min read

Georgia 811 and utility locating: the ticket is a floor, not a plan

A Georgia 811 ticket gets you paint and a legal wait. Utility locating for a bore goes further: private lines, EM and GPR limits, and potholing every crossing.

Directional drill on an airfield with a conduit reel and crew in the background, the setup an underground utility contractor brings to a bore
Hiring a contractorOct 14, 202615 min read

How to choose an underground utility contractor: 12 questions to ask

Twelve questions to ask an underground utility contractor in Georgia before you sign, with the answer a good crew gives and the red flag that should stop you.

Orange HDPE conduit rising out of a landscaped strip beside a sidewalk after directional boring, hedges and sidewalk left intact
Cost and planningOct 9, 202614 min read

Directional boring vs trenching: when trenchless saves money

Directional boring vs trenching priced the way a GC sees it: per foot, per job, restoration, traffic control, trench safety and utility strikes, with sources.

Operator running a Ditch Witch JT9 directional boring rig from a grass strip beside a curb, lawn intact around the rig
Cost and planningOct 7, 202615 min read

Directional boring cost: the factors that move the price per foot

Directional boring cost is set by diameter, soil, depth, crossings, pit access and restoration, not a rate card. What a real quote itemizes and a low one skips.

Crew unspooling gray HDPE conduit from a reel trailer while a worker hand digs the entry pit for a directional boring job beside a driveway
Directional drillingOct 2, 202615 min read

What is directional boring? How a bore day goes, step by step

Directional boring walked in order: 811 ticket and paint, potholing, pits, the pilot bore, reaming passes, pullback, fluid and cleanup, and what stops a job.

Ditch Witch JT32 horizontal directional drilling rig set up on grass beside an airfield, drill rod laid out next to the rig
Directional drillingOct 1, 202615 min read

Horizontal directional drilling explained: rig, phases and limits

Horizontal directional drilling explained by a Georgia HDD crew: rig, pilot bore, reaming and pullback, cover and bend radius rules, and where open cut wins.

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