CASE STUDIES
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The Tunneling Company was contracted to install a 3.2 m (126 in) wide replacement culvert beneath the Alaska Highway in northern B.C. The crossing was 56 m in length, passing through heterogeneous ground conditions that included mixed fill, large boulders, and embedded logs. Due to the substantial amount of daily traffic through the area, the crossing required a trenchless solution that would avoid disruptions and maintain the roadway’s integrity.
In anticipation of the mixed ground conditions, The Tunneling Company used a Hydro Hammer — our high-energy hydraulic pipe ramming technology. This methodology is designed to engulf subsurface obstructions along the culvert alignment, which ensured that any encountered boulders or logs did not compromise ground integrity.
Additionally, 1-meter sections of soil at the entry and exit points consisted of frozen ground. To tunnel through these harder stretches of soil, crews reinforced the pipe’s leading edge with a triple-layered, 3-inch-thick steel configuration equipped with carbide-tipped teeth. This modification also helped cut through or fracture any obstructions present along the culvert path, streamlining the installation process even further.
The Tunneling Company successfully installed the replacement culvert at a depth of 5 m (16 ft) with no disruptions to traffic or the local community. The utilization of our versatile Hydro Hammer technology was instrumental in facilitating this crossing, showing its ability to handle extremely challenging ground conditions and shallow cover.
The Tunneling Company successfully installed the replacement culvert at a depth of 5 m (16 ft) with no disruptions to traffic or the local community. The utilization of our versatile Hydro Hammer technology was instrumental in facilitating this crossing, showing its ability to handle extremely challenging ground conditions and shallow cover.