PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION
Optimising value on HDD maxi-rig projects One of Australia's leading horizontal directional drilling (HDD) design and construction providers, Maxibor Australia, provides insights for asset owners, principal contractors, design engineers and project advisors on how to maximise value on infrastructure projects requiring a HDD maxi-rig spread solution.
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axibor is an independent, Australianowned horizontal directional drilling (HDD) design and construct company with operational bases in Queensland and New South Wales that service projects across Australia. Maxibor provides its HDD services across the water, sewer, rail, power, gas, telecommunications, mining, defence, fuel, sea cable, data centre, hydrogen and renewables sectors. It has one of the largest HDD fleets in Australia, including maxi-rigs, midi-rigs, rock rigs and smaller rigs with capacity to complete pipeline bores in length from 20 m to 3 km and with diameters from 63 mm up to 1.6 m. It is also the proud owner of four of the most powerful pumps in the HDD sector. Maxi-rigs are defined as those HDD rigs required for the installation of pipelines in diameter between 400 mm (16 inches) and 1200 mm (48 inches), rated for more than 45,359 kg (100,000 lb) of thrust and greater than 9072 kg (20,000 lb) of torque. Maxibor has four maxi-rigs – a Vermeer 330x500, American Auger 660, Gallagher 600 and Gallagher 660e, as well as an extended Vermeer 100x120 which is capable of using the longer 9.1 m drill rods used by maxirigs. The maxi-rig spread is a significant investment as it comprises much more than just the rig. Drill fluid cleaners, high volume pump(s), mud mixer, vacuum truck, rods and tooling and excavators to manage the pipe and rods all add to the on-site cost of the spread even before a rod is turned. The purchase cost of a new spread today would not
leave much change from $9 million. Rodney O’Meley, Maxibor’s owner and HDD drilling expert, has been involved in the HDD sector across four decades. This has built up an exceptional level of practical HDD knowledge to facilitate Maxibor’s successful delivering of many projects across Australia. O’Meley lives and breathes HDD and is passionate about furthering the development of HDD in Australia. Maxibor’s design and engineering activities are headed up by Stephen Loneragan, who has similarly lived and breathed HDD design and engineering in Australia and overseas since the early 1990s. He is one of Australia’s original HDD design engineers and leads with experience in complex multidisciplinary global HDD projects. Aided by the other experienced HDD people within Maxibor and the capabilities of its equipment, this creates an HDD knowledge and delivery powerhouse which can significantly benefit project stakeholders. Maxibor’s cooperative, knowledge sharing approaches is assisting the wider HDD industry and infrastructure sector better appreciate where HDD can add value to their projects for the benefit of all stakeholders. Project stakeholders have the common objectives of delivering projects safely, on time and within budget. They also have the objective of achieving value for money. “Maxibor brings the opportunity for project stakeholders to optimise value on projects at design, engineering and construct level though its integrated knowledge across all HDD processes,” O’Meley says.
Design and engineering
Maxibor's Gallagher 600 maxi-rig – the Iceman.
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Having the knowledge of what is possible to be constructed is vital in providing the optimal design for a project. The extensive design expertise within Maxibor, gained from designing and delivering larger HDD projects across the globe, enables significant value to be added to Australian projects where HDD is a suitable solution. The company’s expertise means that design and engineering participants can confidently put forward solutions which other HDD designers may not even consider. Being human, designers without firsthand experience of what is possible may not have the instincts to put The Australian Pipeliner | November 2022
forward designs that they are not familiar with. Designers with the larger HDD project experience will be much more comfortable in this space, particularly as, is with the case at Maxibor, they are also intimately familiar with the equipment and people who will be undertaking the delivery. “Because of its holistic HDD skills mix, Maxibor is increasingly being approached by asset owners and project advisors, in both the private and public sectors, to provide early design advice into key infrastructure projects that require the installation of pipelines. This allows design and engineering innovation to help solve complex project challenges and to have constructable projects on the table from an early stage of the project lifecycle. Clients are finding that a much more informed decisionmaking process, and significant value, is added by this holistically informed collaborative knowledge sharing process,” says O’Meley.
Ground investigation “The importance of having sufficient geological investigation data to make informed design and construction decisions is important on all HDD projects. It is however even more important on larger HDD projects, as it’s more difficult to address unexpected challenges on longer and deeper bores,” says O’Meley. Having good data on and experience around the expected ground conditions enables better decision-making on a range of aspects of an HDD project. These can include the selection of the bore path, the rig, pumps, cleaning systems, tooling, drill fluid management, waste disposal and whether steel casing is required for unstable sections of the bore hole. The value of selecting the right HDD provider is even more important when a HDD project presents the challenge of unexpected ground conditions. HDD drillers who understand what they are encountering along the bore path are able to respond in the most effective manner, thereby minimising the impact on production and, ultimately, time and cost for the project.
Construction The cost of the HDD projects – excluding the cost of pipe – is predominantly driven by labour and plant.