When is HDD required on a pipeline?

HDD is typically required when an open trench is not allowed or practical, such as crossing under a highway, river, railroad, or wetland. Permits often mandate a trenchless method for those crossings.

Does Appalachian Pipeline self-perform HDD?

Yes. HDD is one of our self-performed specialized services, which keeps the engineering and the drilling under one contractor.

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD)

When a pipeline has to cross a highway, a river, or a sensitive wetland, you cannot always dig an open trench. Horizontal directional drilling, or HDD, bores a steerable path underground and pulls the pipe through behind it, leaving the surface intact. We self-perform HDD as part of our specialized scope.

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In scope

What this covers

Road, highway, and railroad crossings
River and water-body crossings
Wetland and environmentally sensitive crossings
Crossings in congested areas where surface disruption is a problem

Why we keep it in-house

HDD lives and dies on the engineering: pipe specs, depth, entry and exit angles, the radius of the curve, and the soil along the path. Keeping the drilling under the same roof as the design is how we control the outcome instead of managing a sub from a distance.

Read: What is HDD (horizontal directional drilling)?

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Related capabilities

Hydrostatic Testing Hydrostatic Testing Fabrication Pipeline Fabrication Concrete Coating Concrete Coating and Weight Installation Meter Stations & Civil Meter Station and Civil Construction Marsh & Wetland Marsh and Wetland Pipeline Construction Stringing & ROW Stringing, Pipe Handling, and Right-of-Way Maintenance All of Specialized Services