Rock Directional Drilling

Yes. Standard soft-ground tooling cuts soil but stalls in rock, so we switch to a rock-specific system. Our main rock method is the Ditch Witch All Terrain system, a dual-pipe rig that mechanically drives a rock bit through hard ground, and for the hardest, most abrasive formations we can run a down-the-hole air hammer. We deliberately avoid fluid-powered mud motors where we can, because they pump large volumes of drilling fluid downhole that is then costly to recycle and dispose of. Reaming is done with rock hole openers and roller reamers. It is slower and more demanding than soft-ground drilling, but it lets us complete crossings that would otherwise need blasting or tunnelling.

We drill the full range found across UK sites, including weathered and competent sandstone, mudstone, siltstone and limestone, and harder igneous rock such as granite and basalt. The rock's strength (UCS), abrasiveness and fracturing all affect the rate and tooling, so a ground investigation makes a real difference to planning and price.

Rock crossings are usually deeper and longer, where a surface walkover locator can't reach. We use a wireline steering system (such as Paratrack), which gives precise position and depth data from a sensor in the drill string, letting us hold the designed profile through hard, variable ground.

It typically is. Rock tooling, slower penetration rates and the wear on equipment all add cost. But against the alternatives for a rock crossing, such as open-cut blasting or micro-tunnelling, directional drilling in rock is very often the cheaper and faster route. We'll give you a straight comparison for your specific crossing.

It is strongly recommended for rock. Borehole logs and rock strength data let us select the right tooling, predict penetration rates and price the job accurately, rather than carrying a large risk allowance. If you don't have ground data, we can arrange it.