Case Studies

Project Summary

The Hydrovac Company was the most predominant Hydrovac service company on the Namao to Fox Creek pipeline. We were the first hydrovac contractor on site and the last one off, running up to nine trucks a day on the project along with a dedicated supervisor.

Our scope of work included the initial daylighting of under utilities within the bore path of the 406 mm (16 in) and 610 mm (24 in) pipe. We were also responsible for fluid management at the entry and exit pits of the HDD rigs, and mitigation of run-off water affecting pipe installation. This project involved close collaboration with several horizontal directional drilling service providers along the route, including The Crossing Company.

Key Challenges

There were numerous challenges on this project due to the scope, complexity and weather conditions.

• Typical Hydrovac pipeline jobs involves exposures between 2 to 3 m deep (6.6 ft to 9 ft). Many of the work sites required us to go to uncommonly deep depths – exceeding 5 m (16.4 ft). The Hydrovac Company was called in for these extreme exposures due to the experience of our crews and the enhanced blower capacity on our Tornado Hydrovac Trucks. This allowed us to daylight at higher production rates and to lift heavy mud from depths that can strain trucks with lower capacity blowers.

• The depth of the holes called for safety measures above and beyond standard procedures. It was deemed too risky to anchor to the truck, so employees were tethered to fixed anchor points provided by the contractor. As well, site personnel were required to wear trackable lanyards.

• Both our fleet and crews excelled when the thermometer dropped below -30°C. Freezing of fluids in the drilling line was not an issue.

• The scale of this project meant there were numerous contractors and heavy equipment fleets working on-site simultaneously, all sharing busy right of ways. The skill of our drivers was put on display.

Services Provided