160mm Ducting under the Evenlode River

Installation of 80m of 160mm ducting under a watercourse

We were delighted to work alongside Nexus Utilities on this project; Nexus are currently installing the infrastructure for a new housing development; the most direct route for the majority of the utilities, including electricity and fibre optic, was under the Evenlode River - we were happy to offer our expertise to facilitate. 

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The specific area we were drilling was deemed as ecologically sensitive, as such, additional cover was required between the new ducting and the hard bed of the river.  This meant drilling at around 2m deep, ordinarily this is not a problem, however, from around 1.8 - 2m under the main body of the river, the ground we had seen in the borehole data and the excavations on either side of the river disappeared and was replaced by layer after layer of rock.

We found ourselves in a layer of relatively soft ground between rock layers - this made it impossible to get the pilot bore to break back through to get back to safe working depths in the reception pit without the additional delays and costs associated with shuttering and reinforcing deep excavations. The solution was simple,  dig the reception hole down to depth of the pilot bore and ramp it up to ground level. This took an additional 30 minutes or so, but we still finished well ahead of schedule without necessitating additional unforeseen budgetary increases onto Nexus or the clients. 

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The result - completed on time, well within budget, all required environmental considerations adhered with no unintended returns or impact on the local environment.