Technology Provides Steering Accuracy for Tough PG&E Replacement

摘要

The United States' infrastructure is crowded with underground pipelines that will need to be replaced. When the time came to replace a critical but vintage, PG&E 30-inch gas line in the East Bay Area of Oakland, Calif., there were issues that Senior Gas Engineer Joshua Hampton needed to resolve. The new line needed to go under two large and deep culverts. Closing the extremely busy San Leandro Street, directly between the BART Coliseum Station and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, home to both the Oakland Athletics and the Oakland Raiders, and the Golden State Warriors' Oracle Arena would have inconvenienced millions. The best answer seemed to be horizontal directional drilling (HDD), but that option presented its own difficulties.