Orø is a small island in Denmark located in the Ise Fjord (a fiord in Zealand, Denmark), and running fiberoptics from the mainland to the island was not an easy job. Entreprenør Jacob Post, APS, from Kirke Såby, Denmark was up to the task along with the company’s Vermeer D40x55 S3 Navigator® horizontal directional drill. The crew installed 700 meters (2,227 feet) of 140 millimeters (5.5 inch) SDR9 pipe under the seabed.
Jacob Post, the owner of Entreprenør Jacob Post, APS, says before starting the project, they had some concerns about doing a bore at that distance, but the D40x55 S3 drill was certainly up to the challenge. “Maneuvering toward the end of the bore was a bit tricky, but we were able to make it work,” said Post. “We had to come up with a creative way of locating this bore because the saltwater made it difficult to send and receive a signal from our DigiTrack® Falcon F5® locator.”
To locate the drill head, Post enlisted a rope ferry, where they placed an excavator with a large PE pipe mounted to it. At the end of the closed bottom of the tube, crews placed a surface monitor connected to an antenna at the top of the tube. The pipe was then lowered to the seabed and moved as drilling progressed. Three men worked on the ferry — one managed the boat, another controlled the excavator with the pipe and the third read signals through a camera.
When Post’s crew neared the end of the drill shot, they hit an old concrete block. They had two choices — try to drill through or start over. They decided to drill through and were successful. Rotating the reamer on the pullback was challenging at first, but became smoother as they went along. The bore took 26 hours of non-stop drilling and pulling back to complete.
“Our Vermeer (Vermeer Denmark A/S) dealer helped us identify all of the equipment we would need for a job of this size and provided guidance about what drilling fluid mix we should use,” Post added.
Equipment used to complete the bore:
- Vermeer D40x55 S3 Navigator horizontal directional drill with 152 pieces of 4.57 meter (15 foot) Firestick® drill rod
- DigiTrak Falcon F5 locator
- Vermeer Mix Master 8 inch (20.32 centimeter) reamer and an 8 inch (20.32 centimeter) Vermeer fluted reamer with shark teeth
Drilling Fluid used:
- Cetco Hydraul-EZ bentonite with Hydro-Pack and Clay Cutter
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This article contains third-party observations, advice or experiences that do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Vermeer Corporation, its affiliates or its dealers. Testimonials and/or endorsements by contractors in specific circumstances may not be representative of normal circumstances experienced by all customers.
Vermeer, the Vermeer logo, Equipped to Do More, Navigator, Firestick and Mix Master are trademarks of Vermeer Manufacturing Company in the U.S. and/or other countries. DCI, DigiTrak and Falcon are trademarks of Digital Control Incorporated. Hydraul-EZ, Hydro-Pack and Clay Cutter are trademarks of Cetco.
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