Drilling & boring
Pipe boring contractors in Athens
Pipe goes under the road in one piece, pulled through a bored hole, instead of being laid joint by joint in an open trench across it.
Serving Athens · Clarke County
Davis Underground Solutions, Inc.
Directional drilling and boring across Georgia; locates, bore plan and utility coordination handled. More about Davis Underground Solutions →
Pipe that can be bored
Almost anything that carries water, wastewater, gas or air under pressure can be installed by bore in Athens. Fused HDPE is the workhorse: the crew butt-fuses the sticks into one continuous string on the surface, lays it out behind the receiving pit, and pulls the whole length back through the reamed hole, so there is not a single joint under the pavement. Fusible PVC does the same for water utilities that specify it. Steel pipe and casings are installed by auger bore where the design wants a rigid, straight line. The product is chosen by the utility or the engineer; the bore is planned around it.
Common pipe bores in Clarke County
- Water services from the meter to the house under a driveway and a finished yard.
- Sewer force mains and pressure laterals for lift-station and grinder-pump systems.
- Irrigation mains under roads and parking areas for parks, campuses and golf courses.
- Gas mains and services to the gas company's specification.
- Storm and process piping on industrial sites where the lot cannot be cut.
Sizing the bore
The hole is reamed to roughly about 1.5 times the pipe's outside diameter, which lets the pipe pull back without excess tension. The depth is set by whoever owns the crossing: a county or GDOT road permit, a railroad, or the utility's standard. Georgia rock and water table both get checked on the site walk, since they decide the tooling and the fluid plan. The pulled pipe is pressure tested to the owner's requirement before the pits are closed.
Why owners bore pipe instead of trenching it
Because trenching across a street in Athens means a permit, traffic control, a saw cut, a full-depth pavement patch and often a moratorium if the road was recently paved. A bore avoids all of it and leaves nothing to settle later. Davis Underground Solutions, Inc. bores pipe across Clarke County with its own rigs and fusion equipment; Davis Underground Solutions has photos of recent installations. Estimates are free. Call now: (678) 264-3333.
Estimates are free. Call now: (678) 264-3333.
Other drilling and boring services in Athens
Directional Drilling Athens
Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) for new underground utilities: steered bores under roads, driveways, parking lots, creeks and landscaping with no open trench.
Horizontal Boring Athens
Horizontal boring for conduit, casing and carrier pipe where digging across a surface is not an option.
Auger Boring Athens
Steel-cased auger bores for road, rail and railroad crossings that need a straight, on-grade casing.
Fiber Optic Drilling Athens
Directional drilling for fiber and communications duct: long bores, multiple ducts in one pull, tight easements.
Electrical Conduit Drilling Athens
Bores for primary and secondary power conduit, lighting circuits and site electrical feeds.
Utility Drilling Athens
Multi-utility installs for developers and utilities: power, gas, water, sewer and telecom on one site plan.
Sewer Line Drilling Athens
Directional drilling and boring for new gravity-adjusted force mains, laterals and sewer crossings.
Water Main Drilling Athens
HDD installation of new water mains and service lines, including creek and road crossings.
Gas Line Drilling Athens
Bores for new natural gas mains and services, coordinated with the utility and its operator-qualification rules.
Questions about pipe boring in Athens
What pipe sizes can be bored in Athens?+
Service lines from 1 inch through mains of 12 inches and beyond by directional drilling, larger lines inside a cased auger bore. Length and ground set the practical limit for each rig.
Does HDPE have to be fused on site?+
Yes. The sticks are butt-fused into one string before the pull, by a qualified operator, so the pipe under the road is joint-free.
Can you bore a gravity pipe?+
Only inside a casing installed by auger bore, which holds grade. A steered directional bore does not.
How is the bored pipe tested?+
Pressure testing to the utility's or engineer's specification, with mains also flushed and disinfected when they carry drinking water.
Do you charge for an estimate?+
No. Estimates are free. Call (678) 264-3333 now, or send the pipe size, length and route through the form on this page.