12-Inch Water Line Horizontal Directional Drill across Hunting Bayou Using Cartridge Method

A 12-inch water line was identified to be installed along IH-10 East Freeway for 3,600 feet in Houston, Texas, to allow customer services to be transferred from an aging 42-inch prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP) that needs repairs. At Hunting Bayou, a 600-foot portion of the 12-inch water line was to be installed using horizontal directional drilling. One of the challenges that came with this crossing was to install the pipe in a limited work space without obstructing active driveways along one of Houston’s busiest roadways, the frontage road of IH-10. Therefore, the cartridge method using Certa-Lok C-900 RJIB (restrained joint integral bell) was specified during pullback. The directional drill effort encompassed the pilot hole and 2 reamed passes. As the pipe was being pulled the contractor engaged each joint one-by-one and pulled the first few joints within the hole. Shortly after a drill stem got stuck at the drilling machine. After the stem was removed the contractor successfully pulled the remaining pipe within hours.