Planning Horizontal Directional Drilling for Pipeline Construction

9.3 Pre-qualification of Bidders
If practical, bidders should be pre-qualified to ensure that they have adequate
equipment, experience, personnel and specific company experience in the area of
the crossing.
9.4 Drawings
In order to ensure accurate bids, the limiting parameters for a design drill path
should be identified. The proposed drill path should be presented on the drawing
profile along with the “No Drill’ Zone and any geotechnical information,
including the geotechnical report, that is available (see Section 6.3).
9.5 Sharing of Risk
HDD crossings present an inherently much higher risk than standard pipeline
construction. Where possible, this risk should be mitigated by providing adequate
site information such as geotechnical information. Specific contract types are in
effect “shared risk” contracts and the use of these types of contracts should be
considered.
9.6 Responsibilities of Parties
Specific responsibilities pertaining to the parties involved with the HDD should
be clearly explained in the contract. Such responsibilities that should be included
in the contract are:
• responsibility for arranging the surveying and staking of the access and entry
and exit points of the drill should be clearly identified;
• the owner company should clearly state any reporting schedules and/or
systems that the contractor(s) are to follow during the course of the drill (e.g.,
phone in daily progress reports to the project manager);
• monitoring and contingency responsibilities should be clearly defined;
• the contract should specify who is responsible for the accumulation of
extraordinary costs during the course of the project; and
• it should be clearly stated what each of the parties is responsible for providing,
and whether separate pricing is required for specific items.
9.7 Failed Crossings
HDD projects can fail in a number of ways (see Section 10.3), including:
• unexpected geotechnical conditions that preclude the successful completion of
the HDD;
• the drag section is difficult to pull back through the crossing;
• the pipe gets stuck in the hole after a successful drill and ream; and/or
September 2004 Planning Horizontal Directional Drilling for Pipeline Construction Page 9-4