Serving Durham and all of North Carolina
Directional drilling contractors in Durham, NC
Horizontal directional drilling, auger boring and pipe boring in Durham: conduit, fiber, water, sewer and gas lines put under roads, driveways and landscaping without an open trench.
Most of the underground lines being installed in Durham today never see an open trench. Directional drilling runs a steered pilot bore between two pits, reams it to size and pulls the pipe or conduit back through in one pass. For a crossing under a North Carolina highway, a railroad or a river, it is usually the only method the permit will allow.
In North Carolina the listed contractor is Davis Underground Solutions, Inc., based in Powder Springs, Georgia, which drills across the Southeast and quotes any mobilization up front. See Davis Underground Solutions's North Carolina drilling page for the crew, the equipment and recent projects, or call (855) 520-2670; estimates are free.
Serving Durham and all of North Carolina
Davis Underground Solutions, Inc.
Directional drilling, auger boring and utility installation; locates, bore plan and permits handled. It's boring. But we dig it.
What is in the ground in Durham
Piedmont red clay with saprolite and granite close to the surface across the Triangle and Charlotte; the coastal plain east of I-95 is sand and soft clay with a high water table, and the mountains are rock.
Rapid growth in Raleigh, Charlotte and the Triad, fiber to the home, water and sewer extensions and NCDOT highway crossings. Locate requests in North Carolina go through NC811; crossings of state routes are permitted by NCDOT.
How a bore in Durham is done
On a typical Durham job the crew sets up an entry pit on one side of the obstruction and an exit pit on the other, calls in the NC811 ticket, and drills a pilot hole that is tracked by a walkover locator above ground. Drilling fluid, usually a bentonite and water mix, carries cuttings out, lubricates the pipe and holds the hole open in sand or soft soil. The hole is reamed to size and the product is pulled in.
Hiring a drilling contractor in Durham
A good Durham drilling contractor is easy to pick out from a quote. The length, pipe size and material are stated, the crossing permits are listed, locates and traffic control are either included or called out, and the mobilization fee, if there is one, is written down. A quote with only a price and a date leaves every one of those as a surprise.
If you want the long version, Davis Underground Solutions has a page on drilling and boring services in North Carolina.
Estimates are free. Call now: (855) 520-2670.
Drilling and boring services in Durham
Each page explains one method or utility type: what gets installed, how deep, what the permit requires and what moves the price.
Directional Drilling
Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) for new underground utilities: steered bores under roads, driveways, parking lots, creeks and landscaping with no open trench.
Directional Drilling explained →
Horizontal Boring
Horizontal boring for conduit, casing and carrier pipe where digging across a surface is not an option.
Horizontal Boring explained →
Auger Boring
Steel-cased auger bores for road, rail and railroad crossings that need a straight, on-grade casing.
Auger Boring explained →
Pipe Boring
Boring and pulling in HDPE or steel product pipe from a few inches up to large-diameter casings.
Pipe Boring explained →
Fiber Optic Drilling
Directional drilling for fiber and communications duct: long bores, multiple ducts in one pull, tight easements.
Fiber Optic Drilling explained →
Electrical Conduit Drilling
Bores for primary and secondary power conduit, lighting circuits and site electrical feeds.
Electrical Conduit Drilling explained →
Utility Drilling
Multi-utility installs for developers and utilities: power, gas, water, sewer and telecom on one site plan.
Utility Drilling explained →
Sewer Line Drilling
Directional drilling and boring for new gravity-adjusted force mains, laterals and sewer crossings.
Sewer Line Drilling explained →
Water Main Drilling
HDD installation of new water mains and service lines, including creek and road crossings.
Water Main Drilling explained →
Gas Line Drilling
Bores for new natural gas mains and services, coordinated with the utility and its operator-qualification rules.
Gas Line Drilling explained →
Questions we hear in Durham
What happens if the drill hits rock in Durham?+
An experienced crew plans for the ground they expect from local experience and any borings or utility records, and brings rock tooling if the area is known for it. If rock shows up unexpectedly, the bore may be slowed, redesigned deeper or shallower, or switched to a rock-capable head. Ask how rock is handled in the quote before work starts.
Does the drilling fluid harm my yard or the creek in Durham?+
Standard drilling fluid is bentonite clay and water, the same material used in pond liners. It is contained in the pits and hauled away or recycled. Crews watch for inadvertent returns, where fluid finds a path to the surface, and stop and contain them; near waterways in North Carolina that is a permit condition.
Who calls 811 before a bore in Durham?+
The contractor files the locate request with NC811 a few business days before drilling, and the public utilities mark their lines on the ground. Private lines on your property, such as irrigation, septic, propane or lighting, are not marked by 811 and need a private locator or your own knowledge of the site.
How do I get a directional drilling estimate in Durham?+
Call Davis Underground Solutions, Inc. at (855) 520-2670; estimates are free, and the crew that answers is the one that does the work. Have the length of the run, what is going in the ground and what it crosses ready, and a site walk will usually confirm the price.
More North Carolina cities
Every listed city in North Carolina has its own page; the North Carolina page covers the state's ground, permits and contractor.