Horizontal Directional Drilling
In locations where excavation is not possible or not desirable, more and more clients are choosing Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD).
Each year, over 1,200 HDD operations are executed. Even in the most challenging soil conditions. Directional drilling is faster than traditional excavation and causes far less disruption to the surroundings, such as nature reserves, historic city centres, industrial sites, ports, and national, water, or railway crossings.
With HDD, we bridge distances ranging from 40 metres up to 3 kilometres and install pipelines with diameters between 60 and 1,200 millimetres. Thanks to the flexible drill head, we can steer horizontally in three directions.
From land to sea
We increasingly perform directional drilling from land to water and vice versa. The demand for this technique is growing, especially for high-voltage connections, such as offshore wind farm construction, new artificial islands, or the decommissioning of oil pipelines on the seabed.
These projects often involve so-called bundle drillings, in which multiple casing pipes are installed within a single bore tunnel.
The benefits of directional drilling
Directional drilling offers many advantages:
- Faster than open excavation
- Less disruption to the surroundings
- Preservation of natural areas
- Avoidance of underground obstacles
- Ideal where excavation is not possible (such as highways, waterways, railways, or built-up areas)
- Allows for deeper, simpler and safer crossings beneath existing cables and pipelines helping to prevent excavation damage in the already crowded subsurface
Beneath nature reserves
Process driven working with PROQS
All our processes are standardised within our own IT system, PROQS. By working in a process-driven way, we know in advance exactly which components are needed for each project. Every step is executed at the right time, by the right person, using the right equipment and tools. We continuously improve our processes, becoming a little better every day.
- Low failure costs
- Milestones achieved on time
- Building on the experience of many previous projects
Innovative equipment
For every project, we deploy the equipment that best fits the job. Our drilling fleet ranges from smaller, compact rigs to large maxi rigs for longer distances and larger diameters. Our in-house maintenance team keeps all equipment in top condition to ensure maximum availability. We also continue to invest heavily in making our fleet and machinery more sustainable such as through electrification.
A 10, 18 and 28 ton drilling rig
Ideal for shorter drillings or locations that require a more compact machine.
![[grijs]Two [/grijs] 80-ton electric rigs](https://vanvulpen.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/3003-0062-Evides-Kruiningen-6-scaled.jpg)
Two 80-ton electric rigs
Offering significant traction and exceptional precision.
A 200 ton electric drilling rig
Powerful and precise with reduced emissions thanks to the electric drive.
A 300 ton electric drilling rig
The heaviest in our fleet; designed for longer drillings with larger diameters.
Windstroom stil en veilig aan land onder Veerse Gatdam
On behalf of TenneT
Nieuwe ondergrondse kabel verbindt Ede met de toekomst
On behalf of Qirion
Duurzaam aangelegde kabels voor windparken op zee
On behalf of TenneT
Uitbreiding elektriciteitsnet Enexis voor de grotere transportcapaciteit
On behalf of Enexis
Our in-house engineering-team
With our own engineering team, we play an essential role in transforming underground infrastructure into a sustainable and future-proof environment.
From neighbourhood redevelopments of gas, water, and electricity networks to the installation of cables for wind and solar farms.
The team designs technical and innovative constructions and translates them into detailed drawings for cable and pipeline routes.
