Horizontal Directional Drilling

Horizontal directional drilling was developed in the 1980’s as a method of underground utility installation in places where trenching or “open cut” installation are not feasible. Crossing rivers, roads, and environmentally sensitive areas are the most common HDD applications. Specially designed HDD rigs lay almost flat on the ground, at a slight angle, and use conventional drill pipe to drill a pilot hole under the obstacle. The drill pipe is then removed, and the resulting bore is used to install various utilities such as fiber optics, water lines, electric lines, and oil and gas pipelines. E&M Supply Group began supplying drill pipe (aka drill stem) to the HDD industry in the mid-1990’s. Horizontal directional drilling also uses non-magnetic drill collars, heavy weight, and rotary subs.

Horizontal Drilling Equipment