Trenchless specialist Rescue Rod notes that, after more than ten years of decisively shaping horizontal directional drilling practices within the company, this form of trenchless technology is widely becoming recognised worldwide as the most efficient, rapid and cost-effective method of instituting this technology.  

Horizontal drilling can be implemented when installing piping, conduit or cabling underground and is useful where traditional methods are either not practical or simply not possible.

Horizontal directional drilling permits excavation under construction sites, rivers, roads and railway lines without disrupting the surface functions and operations in any way.

The Edenvale-based company recently used a 28 N Grundodrill, a navigational drill from German trenchless technology provider Tracto-Technik, to move earth, without disturbing the topsoil, to fix a collapsed sewer pipe in Alexandra.

This project involved Rescue Rod navigational drill operator JJ du Toit drilling about 5 m deep into the invert of the manhole accessing the problematic sewer pipe. Once happy with the invert level, Du Toit drilled to the outfall line, drilling under buildings to connect it to the collapsed sewer pipe. From there, Du Toit drilled to the main sewer line, at which point he used a reamer to widen the 140 mm hole drilled to install a 250 mm high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe over the 100 m distance covered by the navigational drill. Once the HDPE pipe reached the manhole of the collapsed pipe, he removed the rods of the navigational drill and patched the manholes involved to complete the job.

Rescue Rod has been involved in providing pipeline services and waste management in various ways since 1990. The company has more than 25 years of experience in the industry and offers some of the most technologically advanced industrial sewer cleaning and pipeline rehabilitation equipment in the world.