The average road crossing is a pretty mundane entity – start here, end there, try not to hit anything in between. Now, take this road crossing and transplant it to a secure location, in a refinery with numerous buried pipelines that often react violently to unwanted intrusions. The “routine” takes on a whole new dimension. DTD just completed two parallel road crossings at a refinery for a client in Louisiana. The client desired to connect remediation wells to a central treatment plant – accessing the wells required running power, pump controls, and a groundwater conveyance line in two conduits beneath a busy internal roadway. As an added safety measure, the power conduit was encased in a larger conduit, with dyed concrete filling the void space to provide a visual warning to anyone who might strike the pipe while excavating. In many circumstances, a local utility driller would tackle a project like this. However, refinery work requires a high level of dedication to planning and safety. To even approach the project required:
The HDD companies contacted locally were largely overwhelmed by the requirements, so DTD was requested to complete the project. After numerous conference calls and an on-site job walk and meeting, DTD mobilized to the site. The project proceeded without issue, as the DTD field superintendent, Luke Anderson, carefully directed the positioning of equipment to avoid traffic interruptions, interference with adjacent construction work, and damage to a tree next to the drill site. With the equipment positioned and prepped for drilling, the DTD crew plotted the bore paths and placed the two conduits at the precise locations needed – then fused on specialized fittings to the conduit ends and poured the concrete (dyed red) to finish the installations. The project was completed in a total of four days, with the actual drilling and pullback time only taking about six hours, a reflection on the amount of effort expended in assuring worker and plant safety and security.
DTD routinely takes on the “non-routine” in environmental, water supply, and pipeline projects. Our commitment to finding an optimal solution that emphasizes safety and regulatory compliance, along with our crew’s depth of training, gives clients confidence to proceed with projects they may otherwise not attempt.