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The focus of this article is to review the pipe thrusting requirements for small overcut (or annulus) applications. Since the overcut is generally smaller than that of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) there is a concern of friction dominating the total thrust force required for installation or retraction.

A major concern among third party owners when trenchless projects are constructed near their infrastructure is settlement. Settlement of the surface can have detrimental effects on roads, railways, buildings, pipelines or other facilities. In the past trenchless installation methods have been the preferred method of these third party owners to cross beneath their infrastructure because of the less intrusive nature of the construction.

Installing a pipeline crossing beneath a sensitive resource over a length exceeding 15,000 feet may seem like a dismaying endeavor for the majority of companies. Even in ideal conditions, drilling over 15,000 feet of any diameter hole would be a formidable challenge for even the most experienced HDD driller.

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) projects in North America continuously monitor drilling fluid annular pressure during construction. Downhole tooling automatically records "real-time", or "as-built" pressure data. This article gives an insight into recent findings which show how the measured data compares to the industry standard calculated values.