Skip to content
From the field

Field Notes From DUGS

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

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.

Get in touch

Tell us about your project.

Call us or send the project details. Our team will review the scope and follow up.

Location
Serving Georgia and the Southeast
Hours
Phones answered 24/7. Office Mon to Fri, 7am to 5pm ET
Service area

Based in Georgia and available for select projects across the Southeast.

Prefer to talk first?Schedule a 15-minute call with an estimator