GMAC Utilities Ltd pride themselves on being able to work in the most difficult and restrictive of conditions, to enable their customers to bring their projects to completion, on time and on budget. Bringing their 30 years of horizontal directional drilling experience, along with now offering many other trenchless and open-cut solutions, from guided auger boring, to timber headings and shaft sinking, GMAC will have the solution for your project.
Often GMAC are required to work in environmentally sensitive locations and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), from protected rivers to marshes and beaches, with each contract bringing its own list of challenges and often restrictions and constraints to work within. Whatever a project requires, GMAC have the experience and skillset to manage all the environmental risks associated with it, along with the day to day risks and challenges that come with any operation.
GMAC recently worked on a project in Galashiels, Scotland, on behalf of Caledonian Water Alliance, as part of a project to upgrade a 12km water main. Working with the main contractor, A.G. Wilson, GMAC used their uprated American Augers DD440 to place two, 420m shots for 400mm water mains, below the sensitive River Tweed, the busy A70 road and, a high pressure gas main, with no disruption to the local environment or community.
The fourth longest river in Scotland, the River Tweed, is an important SSSI which meant working with a number of ecological constraints to maintain the habitats of otters, salmon and crayfish. To aid in facilitating the protection of the site and its pristine waters, it was vital to drill 10m beneath the bed of the Tweed and through solid Scottish rock, to minimise the risk of drilling fluids contaminating the river.
The drill needed to pass on a curved path below the river so the rig was placed 100m from the banks of the river to enable plenty of space to achieve the required depth and compound curve.
GMAC’s experienced crew spent a number of weeks on each shot, drilling out, reaming and cleaning the hole, before pulling each of the two, twenty tonne, water pipes through. With onsite mud recycling facilities, GMAC minimised the requirement for fresh water to aid the drilling process by cleaning and reusing the fluids used in the drilling process.
Often working in challenging winter weather conditions, both pipes were placed in good time and the site cleared and made good, ready for the main contractor to meet up with the open-cut work.
To get a competitive quote for your project, contact GMAC at either info@gmacutilities.com or any of the contacts below:
Conor McCloskey: 07967 445556 (UK)
Gerald McCloskey: 07823 526240 (ROI and NI)
Wayne Cartwright: 07378 505006 (Sales)
