Analysis of Design – When You

Should Consider Pipe Ram Over

Traditional Auger/Jack & Bore

Gene Woodbridge
Earth Boring Co. Limited
www.earthboring.ca

Earth Boring Co. Limited – 1576 Ifield Road Mississauga, ON L5H 3W1
(905) 277-9632 fax (905) 274-9040
Trenchless Since 1947

Complex Installations
† Geo-Technical Report
† Design Team How important is the
grade/slope on the
† ROW installation
† Technology Type of crossing –
† Environment RR, Hwy, River etc…

† Trenchless Contractor Where in the system

† Timing can we achieve more
grade / acommodate
† Social Consideration less grade?
Trenchless Since 1947

Augering - Jack & Bore

† Mechanical removal of
soil via cutting
head/augers to create a
horizontal hole
† Soil (Spoil) is removed
via augers
† Simultaneously jack
steel casing as soil is
removed
† Specific grades can be
achieved for required
applications
Trenchless Since 1947

Augering - Jack & Bore

† Casing augered in 3m to 6m
lengths (250mm – 1800mm
diameter)
† Completion -- augers
removed, product pipe is
braced, inserted (threading)
† Grouting, typically occurs
once rest of pipeline has
been installed
† Proven method of pipe
installation with well defined
standards
Trenchless Since 1947

Augering - Jack & Bore (Design

Consideration)
† Project
„ Sewer, Water main, Grade sensitivity
† Ground
„ Soils report (test bore/hole)
† Wide range of soil conditions, varying
cutting heads to address needs.
† Distances of 3m - 100m
† Area – Location
„ Ideal location, adaptability
„ Space to set up shaft and store
material
† City, Region Acceptance
„ Well known & accepted technology
† Environmental Consideration
„ Great for preserving environment,
streams, trees, Railways and of course
roads
Trenchless Since 1947

Augering - Footprint
Trenchless Since 1947

Pipe Ramming
† Pneumatic hammer used to ‘ram’ steel casing
into ground - sizes from 500mm to 2100mm
diameter
† Casing is ‘rammed’ in 6m to 12m (<) segments
Trenchless Since 1947

Pipe Ramming
† After each casing is
rammed, another
segment is welded or
mechanically fitted
together
† Once ramming is
complete the soil inside
is removed by augers

† Product pipe is inserted / ‘threaded’

† Grouting, typically occurs once rest of pipeline has been
installed
Trenchless Since 1947

Pipe Ramming (Design Considerations)

† Project
„ Drainage, Sewer, Watermain,
† Ground
„ Typically utilized in more
challenging soil conditions, hard
ground, cobble
† Area – Location
„ Require space for set up
„ Loud percussion hammer
† City, Region Acceptance
„ Making In-roads
„ CNR and CPR ‘encourage’
methodology
† Environmental Consideration
„ Great for preserving environment,
railways, streams, rivers, creeks,
trees, roads
Trenchless Since 1947

Pipe Ramming (Design Cont’d)

Application
Requires
† Compatibility w/
cobbled soil,
hard ground, wet
raveling ground
† Consideration of
high water table
conditions, no
bore path de-
watering
Trenchless Since 1947

Pipe Ramming (Design Cont’d)

Application
Requires
(cont’d)
† Handle rocks to
the size of the ID
of the casing
† No void creation
caused by
removal of bore
path boulders
† ‘burst’ boulders
in path
Trenchless Since 1947

Pipe Ramming (Bursting Boulders)

Void Development Void Mitigation
† Auger Bore - 1/3 † Total inside diameter of
diameter is maximum casing
size before manual † Rock is burst in place
removal required † Portion outside of
† Mining rocks will leave casing remains in-situ
void the volume of † No Void created
removed rock
† Requires packing and
monitoring
Trenchless Since 1947

Pipe Ramming (Mechanical Joint Pipe)

Trenchless Since 1947

Pipe Ramming (Versatility)

Trenchless Since 1947
Trenchless Since 1947

Key Concerns
† Water Issues
† Shaft De-watering vs – Entire Bore Path
† PTTW
† Subsidence
† Railway
† Major Highway
† ‘Bad’ Ground (Type 3 or 4)
† Soils…
Trenchless Since 1947

The Soils Report / Geotechnical Report

† Critical to the success of trenchless projects

† Key to the selection of the trenchless method
† Planning here – saves money later on
† Ground conditions can limit any construction work
† Take time with your Trenchless contractor to
understand the implications
† Know your water table!
† Good Design & Good Trenchless Estimate
is Predicated on the Soils Report
Trenchless Since 1947

The Soils Report cont’d

Utilized as a guide and is used in conjunction with field experience

and understanding of the complete geo-technical report
Trenchless Since 1947

Key Concerns cont’d

† Previous note - Water Issues, Subsidence
† Soils…
† Wet ground
† Auger – Ravelling
† Subsidence
† PTTW, Dewatering the Bore Paths
† Boulders
† Auger – 1/3φ of Casing vs whole φ
† Voids and displacement vs burst in-situ
† Advancement limited resulting in ravelling
Trenchless Since 1947

Key Concerns cont’d

† Soils…
† Casing diameter to Boulder Diameter Ratio
† Cobble
† Auger – Raveling vs plug
† Voids and subsidence
† Sandy Silts
† Auger – Ravelling vs plug
Trenchless Since 1947

Key Concerns summary

† Water Issues
† Subsidence
† Wet Ground
† Boulders
† Cobble
† Sandy Silts
Trenchless Since 1947

Risk Mitigation
What is risk mitigation?
When do you perform risk analysis?
What are the inputs to your risk Responsible
Who is the Expert? identification? Design Shares
The Project Team the Risk – It
Why Risk Mitigation? does not
download it
Time Just get the
Cost v.s. pipe in the
Quality ground..
Where do you stand?
Trenchless Since 1947

Guiness Place Outfalls

† Storm Sewer 2005 † Recommend Pipe
† 3.5m deep Ram
† 0.5%
† Additional Bore
Holes
† Wet Silty Lenses
Trenchless Since 1947

Guiness Place Outfalls

In General
† Greatest range of
† Split Face Soils
soils conditions for
Conditions
application
† Tough Rock and
† Full soils plug
Boulder filled ground
† Mitigate Ravelling
† Active and Passive
Soils
water situations
† Voids virtually
eliminated
† Overall lower risk
Trenchless Since 1947

Guiness Place Outfalls

Stakeholder Challenges…
† 2 week delivery for † Engineer directs
PermalokTM pipe Hand Mine
† Proceed AB † Wet running
„ Sinkhole layer
† Directed to Static
Push (3 weeks later)
„ Substantial Thrust
Block
Trenchless Since 1947

Moving Ahead with the Ram

† Utilize 1050mm † 7 Days – pipe was
TM
Permalok pipe completely
† Thread w/in installed and spoil
1200mm liner removed
already installed
† Water tight
mechanical seal
Trenchless Since 1947

Complex Installations
Time Cost
HDD Contractor
Technology Geo-Technical
Report
Social
Timing Success Consideration

ROW Environment
Design
Designers Design
Contractors Install
Quality
Everyone Collaborates!
Gene Woodbridge
Earth Boring Co. Ltd.
www.earthboring.ca
(905) 277-9632

Earth Boring Co. Limited – 1576 Ifield Road Mississauga, ON L5H 3W1
(905) 277-9632 fax (905) 274-9040