Underground tunnelling

just do it

http://impactmoling.ie/ Spotted this on donedeal.

Anyone any experience with this crew or idea of prices for such a job? I've two roads running through my place. The drains that were originally placed under these roads (in the time of ass and carts!) have long ago collapsed. Getting a job like this done is something I've toyed with. It would also be handy for running across electric wire and water pipes.

just do it

Anyone?

reilig

just do it wrote: »

http://impactmoling.ie/ Spotted this on donedeal.

Anyone any experience with this crew or idea of prices for such a job? I've two roads running through my place. The drains that were originally placed under these roads (in the time of ass and carts!) have long ago collapsed. Getting a job like this done is something I've toyed with. It would also be handy for running across electric wire and water pipes.

It's for putting pipes and cables under a road - saves you getting a road cutting licence. It will put a pipe up to 1 inch under the road. It wouldn't be much use for repairing drains. It will only work in upland (not in bog). If the mole hits a stone, it will usually rise up and come out through the tar in the top of the road. It won't work in daub either.

Guy I used to work for charges Eur250 per run. I think a road cutting licence costs Eur150, so you would only really get someone with the mole if you were running a water pipe or a cable under a road that you needed to get a road cutting licence for, otherwise it would be cheaper to dig the road!

just do it

Thanks Reilig

This crew claim "We can install any size pipe from half inch upto 12 inch/300 mm in all ground conditions including rock and are fully insured to local authority standard".

I must give them a call and see what they quote.

reilig

just do it wrote: »

Thanks Reilig

This crew claim "We can install any size pipe from half inch upto 12 inch/300 mm in all ground conditions including rock and are fully insured to local authority standard".

I must give them a call and see what they quote.

For a bigger pipe they use a hydraulic hammer and drive through a steel sleeve and then push through the pvc pipe - unless technoligy has changed recently. They don't use the mole shown on their website. Their claims of "all ground conditions" isn't really true. We had them several years ago to run a 12" sewer pipe under a main road on a village sererage scheme. They were charging Eur8000 for a 30 meter run. It was cheaper than closing the road for a couple of days (It was a NPR route) cause the council wanted a Eur10,000 deposit. The ground was very thick and heavy grey daub and after about 5m their steel pipe broke at the weld. They started again and spent the whole day at it, but failed to get beyond the 10m mark. They then admitted that the soil was too heavy and that it would be more "ideal" to be pushing it through soft topsoil. We ended up digging the road over 2 nights.

I'd love to know what sort of prices they quote you when you call them?

That's where the guy that I was working for got the idea to buy the mole - he has made a lot of money from it.

just do it

There is a video of the gear in action on this donedeal ad.

I rang Mick and he quoted €700 for a 30ft run of 4" pipe to pass under a bye road. I've a main road passing through the place as well so I may have 3 spots where it would suit to have a pipe going across under ground. I'd expect a decent discount if I went for 2 or 3 underground pipes. I'm not sure if the prep holes either side of the road are included in that price.

I'll feed back further info after meeting him.

I remember seeing an article a few years ago in the IFJ where PJ Dore laid pipe under a public road. I must give him a ring as well and see what he says.

JohnBoy

curious about how you get on.

a few four inch holes could be rather handy!

hymac

Any news on this one i may need them this summer

just do it

hymac wrote: »

Any news on this one i may need them this summer

I was quoted for 3 holes to be put in, two of them quite long as they're under a main road. €2,200 + vat. That's for 6 inch pipe which doesn't cost much more than 4 inch. Also includes digger work either side but this will vary depending how far he'll have to travel.

JohnBoy

That seems very reasonable to me, did you go ahead with it?

just do it

JohnBoy wrote: »

That seems very reasonable to me, did you go ahead with it?

Agree it seems a good price. I haven't done anything yet but good to know the option is there. I know he's done one for a fella not too far from me so some day I'm passing I'll call in and see if he's happy with it.

hymac

Sounds good to me i must give them a call.

tonytoc11

Why don't you do it yourself? I saw my uncle using a mole recently to run a water pipe under a road for the mains to go into his house. He already had the use of a compressor though but he rented the mole. Not sure on prices but it certainly wasn't €700 for a run. It's simple to use. The holes on either side were just dug with a shovel to a couple of feet deep, position the mole and have a cup of tea while it does its work.

just do it

hymac wrote: »

Sounds good to me i must give them a call.

Just to let you know there are a few things in my favour. It turns out he is from around 15miles from me so the cost of bringing all the gear up isn't an issue. Another thing is one side of the main road is ~4ft higher than the land so this probably makes the digging out for 2 of the tunnels easier.

One intersting thing which I'm not sure if I put in the earlier post is the quote is for 6" pipe. He says its not much more than the 4" although I don't what exactly the difference is. Also because the main road is so wide he'll need two pipes which will have to be welded together in-situ. So if your crossing isn't that wide and you get away with one pipe that should save you a bit.

Let us know how you get on;)

hymac

tonytoc11 wrote: »

Why don't you do it yourself? I saw my uncle using a mole recently to run a water pipe under a road for the mains to go into his house. He already had the use of a compressor though but he rented the mole. Not sure on prices but it certainly wasn't €700 for a run. It's simple to use. The holes on either side were just dug with a shovel to a couple of feet deep, position the mole and have a cup of tea while it does its work.

What size pipe will that mole put in I need a 9 inch where did he rent it from

quietsailor

I worked on a farm where a 6 inch pipe was put under a road for drainage purposes. The excavator dug down 5 feet in each side of the road and then pushed through a steel pipe. We ended up welding 3 pipes together to get a safe length.

At the joins we reinforced the weld by taking 2ft of the pipe, cutting it longways and sliding it onto the pipes before they were welded/joined. Once the join weld was finished we moved the 2' piece back over the join - 1' each side and welded it all round.

Once the pipe came through all we had to do was pull the earth inside the pipe out of the way - no micro boring machines, no compressors, only an excavator.

reilig

quietsailor wrote: »

I worked on a farm where a 6 inch pipe was put under a road for drainage purposes. The excavator dug down 5 feet in each side of the road and then pushed through a steel pipe. We ended up welding 3 pipes together to get a safe length.

At the joins we reinforced the weld by taking 2ft of the pipe, cutting it longways and sliding it onto the pipes before they were welded/joined. Once the join weld was finished we moved the 2' piece back over the join - 1' each side and welded it all round.

Once the pipe came through all we had to do was pull the earth inside the pipe out of the way - no micro boring machines, no compressors, only an excavator.

Works fine in soil, but when you dig down into a subsoil which is daub, it judt won't drive through.

tonytoc11

hymac wrote: »

What size pipe will that mole put in I need a 9 inch where did he rent it from

I suppose you might want to let the experts at that size. The one he put in was only about 2 inch. I'm not sure but I'll find out.

hymac

I rang mick today he said he would put in 20ft of 12 inch for 1300+vat if i supply a digger which i have myself (a hymac) 12 inch was only 100 euro more than 9 inch,will be doing the job next week hopefully

quietsailor

reilig wrote: »

Works fine in soil, but when you dig down into a subsoil which is daub, it judt won't drive through.

Yeah it was normal soil for that job. Would you be able to stick a power hose down the centre of the steel pipe and wash back the clay - I suppose it would have to be a high pressure machine, rather than a normal farmers machine