Seattle Water Line Installation

We offer two types of trenchless water lines. The first is a pneumatic piston or “mole.” The mole is used for short, relatively flat segments up to 30 feet long and is often used to cross under driveways or short yards. Once the mole starts moving, we have no control of its direction. We put it in the ground, aim it in the direction we want it to go, and turn it on. Then we wait for it to show up in the receiving hole. Typically it goes perfectly straight, but large rocks and tree roots can deflect it.

The other method is know as directional boring. With directional boring, we can do a lot more. Single shots can be up to 250 feet long with great precision. We can go uphill, downhill, and around corners to hit a target 12 inches big from any distance we need. The bore can vary in size, depending what size pipe we are installing, but 1.5 inches is the most common for water lines. The drill is operated by two technicians; one feeds the steel rods into the ground and steers the direction while the other walks along with the shaft to read and communicate information back to the driver. Between these two methods, along with old-fashioned trenching, our capabilities are unlimited.