The most popular methods of trenchless pipes and utilities laying in the main pipeline construction industry are:

• Piercing (as a horizontal directional drilling method)
• Punching (as a horizontal directional drilling method)
• Direct Pipe Technology
• Directional drilling
• Microtunnelling

Piercing is the simplest and most affordable method for trenchless pipelaying. The point of the method is to create a horizontal hole in the ground by applying a high force jacking action on the first section of pipe with a cone shaped tip. During the “pushing force”, the pipe “pierces” the ground and thus paves its way in the ground. The method is suitable for pipe diameters of up to 600 mm and a crossing length of up to 60 metres.

The geology of the application is viscous soils, clay and loam.

The advantages of the technique are low cost and environmental friendliness.

The disadvantages of the method – small diameter of the crossing, short crossing length

BELTRUBOPROVODSTROY implements the technology while construction of the closed crossing under the automobile and railway roads, small channels etc.

Pipe punching – the method is more complicated comparing to pipe piercing as it requires additional facilities for soil disposal. This method does not require a tip to be placed on the pipe to slide – the pipe is pressed onto the soil through its entire cross section, with the special knives or other units which help to excavate and remove the soil. The punching technology is suitable for the pipes with the diameter from 600 to 1200 mm and up to 100 m in crossing length.

The geology of the application – almost any type of soil

The advantages of the method are low cost and environmental friendliness.

The disadvantage of the method includes short crossing length.

BELTRUBOPROVODSTROY implements the technology while construction of the closed crossing under the automobile highways and railways, channels, rivers etc.

Directional drilling – controlled installation of pipes and other underground utilities under rivers and other natural or artificial obstacles, which have a deviation angle from the horizontal laying line and can reach up to 50 metres depth. Special high-capacity drilling equipment is used for the installation. The method helps to lay large-diameter pipes of up to 2,000 metres in length.

The geology of application is boggy, muddy, boulder, karst and permafrost.

The advantages of the technology are wide range of geological conditions to be applied in, environmental friendliness.

The disadvantage of the method – high construction costs.

The greatest projects of BELTRUBOPROVODSTROY implemented by the technology are the crossings within the projects “The oil condensate pipeline from the Valazhin field of the East-Urengoy Section to AI Zapolyarnoye”, “The reconstruction of main gas pipeline”Kohtla-Yarve-Leningrad” etc.

Direct Pipe Technology by Herrenkneсht is a combination of microtunnelling and horizontal directional drilling. The point of the method is that a prefabricated and welded pipeline can be pulled into the ground in one stage, simultaneously with the formation of a borehole using a microshield. The technology allows fast and economical installation of pipelines with diameter of 762-1520 mm and with length of up to 2,000 metres. 

The geology of the application is almost all types of soils.

The advantages of the method include are absence of any geological limitations, environmental friendliness.

The disadvantages of the method are precise management and highly qualified staff.

BELTRUBOPROVODSTROY is a pioneer of the technology at the East Europe and successfully implemented some important project using it such as the construction of main gas pipeline crossing under the Danube River (1402 m – the 3-d result in the world) within the program “Main gas pipeline (interconnector) border with Bulgaria – border with Hungary” and the construction of the gas pipeline crossings through the River Lom within the project “Expansion of the Bulgartransgaz gas transportation infrastructure, which running parallel to the northern main pipeline to the Bulgarian-Serbian border, stage: “Linear part” Number 180-100”.

Microtunnelling – is a technology while the pipelaying is carried out with the help of microshield (tunnelling machine), which is driven by a jacking unit installed in a shaft at a pre-set depth.

The jacking machine transmits a pushing force to the microshield through the connected reinforced concrete sections, which gradually build up as the microshield moves underground in a needed direction. The method allows the construction of wells with a diameter of up to 2500 mm and a length of up to 990 m without the need to construct intermediate shafts. The method does not require a large territory for accompanying equipment maintenance, so it is indispensable in the conditions of high settled areas.

The geology of application is practically all types of soils.

The advantages of the technology are absence of any geological limitations, environmental friendliness.

The disadvantage of the method is short crossing lengths without the need for additional shafts.

BELTRUBOPROVODSTROY implemented some significant projects using microtunneling and has a great experience in that method.

*the photos are for illustrative purposes only