Better way to mount a ramming tool
Mar 31, 2016
In-line ramming tool cradle maximizes energy transfer in pipe ramming extraction technique
Pipe ramming tools from HammerHead Trenchless Equipment can now be locked inside a wide range of ready-made extraction cradles manufactured by the company. The extraction cradles, sometimes referred to as “canoes,” enable horizontal direction drilling (HDD) contractors to orient a ramming tool 180 degrees to extract stuck pipe or tooling, assist in product pullback and remove washover casing at the end of the HDD job. Extraction cradles also give pipeline installers the most effective means to slick bore and install cathodic protection (CP) pipe.
Unlike fabricated offset mounts that lose a significant portion of ramming energy laterally, an extraction cradle is mounted directly in line with the pipe or tooling. This alignment transfers impact force from the ramming tool to the pipe or HDD tooling with maximum efficiency. Compared to other mounting methods, using an extraction cradle means more work gets done, while eliminating time and labor – hours, sometimes days – of fabricating a mounting system. Alan Goodman, a Global Sales Manager for HammerHead Trenchless Equipment, said the ready-made extraction cradles are reusable and highly versatile. A single cradle can also accommodate a range of both pipe and hammer sizes.
“For instance our 36-inch extraction cradle can mount to 36-inch casing on one end and a 30-inch casing on the other end,” Goodman said. “Then it can be modified further to address other casing sizes by using standard pipe reducers. This means the same cradles can be used with our 26-inch, 24- or 20-inch hammers.”
Slick boring pipeline
One of the most exciting uses of the extraction cradle is in a trenchless pipeline installation method called “slick boring,” an effective, safe method of installing pipeline products, which are routinely protected by a coating supplemented with cathodic protection (CP). A CP system protects a wide variety of metallic structures from corrosion in various environments unless it is compromised.
To install a coated-lined pipe with a pipe ramming tool, a slick bore contractor simply drives a sacrificial, standard casing as a “dummy” into the ground with conventional pipe ramming technique. The contractor removes the ramming tool to place it in the extraction cradle, which has been mounted at the other end of the pipe.
The contractor welds the new coated-lined pipe to the dummy casing that was initially rammed into place. As the hammer locked inside of the cradle extracts the dummy casing from the ground, the dummy casing pulls the coated-lined pipe into place. Slick-boring method limits stress or damage to the pipe or its coating, since they are never subjected to direct impacts from the hammer. The dummy casing, which takes the brunt of the impact force as the casing cuts and drives the casing forward, can often be reused for additional slick boring jobs.
HDD completion insurance
Having an extraction cradle and hammer on hand during challenging HDD operations helps to assure the contractor of completion. “Stuck pipe or tooling is an urgent situation,” Goodman said. “Since there is little fabrication or welding needed, the contractor begins efforts to save the bore, pipe, or tool string as quickly as possible.”
Minutes make the difference in such cases, Goodman said. “There’s no 100 percent guarantee that ramming a stuck pipe or drill stem will save a job. While it’s definitely the best technique available for getting them moving again, the chances of saving the bore hole and freeing pipe or tooling go down with the length of time they remain in the ground. If the contractor doesn’t have a standby extraction cradle and hammer, HammerHead Trenchless Equipment will rush one of each to the site immediately upon getting the call for help. We can also have a technician there on site with them.”
Removing washover casing
HDD contractors drive washover casing to reach more favorable drilling conditions, isolate drilling operations from the formation, protect circulation, and ensure maximum recovery of fluids. Pipe ramming tools mounted in extraction cradles are an effective means of extracting the washover casings at the end of the job.
More News and Articles
Aug 28, 2024
News
ITpipes Secures $20M to Transform Water Infrastructure Management
ITpipes announced it has secured $20 million in equity financing from Trilogy Search Partners and Miramar Equity Partners.
Known for its trusted and user-friendly platform, ITpipes …
Aug 26, 2024
News
Professor Dr.-Ing. Dietrich Stein
With deep sadness we announce the loss of our founder and partner Prof Dr Dietrich Stein at the age of 85.
Engineers around the globe are thankful for his dedication to the inventions in the fields of sewers, …
Aug 26, 2024
News
PPI Releases New Installation Guide for PE4710 Pipe
PPI’s MAB-11-2024 Covers HDPE Water Pipelines Up to 60-in. Diameter and 10,000-ft Long Pulls
Developed by the Municipal Advisory Board (MAB) – and published with the help of the members of the …
Aug 23, 2024
News
Faster wide-scale leak detection now within reach
Mass deployment of connected leak loggers is being made possible by the latest technology, writes Tony Gwynne, global leakage solutions director, Ovarro
Water companies in England and Wales are …
Aug 21, 2024
News
Kraken awakens customer service potential in water
The innovative customer service platform Kraken has made a successful transfer from energy to water. Ahead of their presentation at UKWIR’s annual conference, Portsmouth Water chief executive …
Aug 19, 2024
News
Predicting the toxicity of chemicals with AI
Researchers at Eawag and the Swiss Data Science Center have trained AI algorithms with a comprehensive ecotoxicological dataset. Now their machine learning models can predict how toxic chemicals are …
Aug 16, 2024
News
Goodbye water loss: Trenchless pipe renewal in Brazil
Pipe renewal in Brazil
How do you stop water loss through leaks in old pipe systems without major environmental impacts and restrictions? The answer: with trenchless technology, or more precisely …
Aug 14, 2024
Article
Impact of high-temperature heat storage on groundwater
In a recently launched project, the aquatic research institute Eawag is investigating how the use of borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) affects the surrounding soil, the groundwater …
Aug 12, 2024
News
Watercare completes East Coast Bays sewer link
Watercare has successfully finished the final connection on the East Coast Bays link sewer at Windsor Park in New Zealand.
Much of the East Coast Bays sewer link was installed using horizontal directional …
Aug 09, 2024
Article
Innovative water solutions for sustainable cities
Cities need to become more sustainable and use their water resources more efficiently. Managing water in local small-scale cycles is one possible solution. A new white paper by Eawag, the University …
Aug 07, 2024
Article
How digital technologies contribute to universal drinking water
Digital water technologies have an important role in ensuring universal access to safe drinking water by 2030, that is according to a new report from the World Health Organisation. …
Aug 05, 2024
News
Knowledge transfer on sustainable water infrastructure in India
India’s fast-growing cities need an efficient infrastructure for water supply and wastewater disposal. A research cooperation, is therefore supporting the development of a sustainable …
Contact
Hammerhead Trenchless Equipment
500 South C.P. Avenue
53551 Wisconsin
United States
Phone:
+1 920 648 4848
Fax:
+1 920 648 1781