Directional Drilling Contractor

Horizontal Directional Drilling

Huxted Trenchless provides horizontal directional drilling services for complex utility installations where open-cut construction is impractical, disruptive or environmentally constrained. Our HDD work supports critical power, water, sewer, gas, petroleum, communications and industrial infrastructure projects across the United States and internationally.

Why HDD? Because it allows utilities to be installed beneath rivers, wetlands, highways, railroads, shorelines, developed corridors and sensitive environments while reducing surface disturbance, restoration costs and impacts to the public.

Why Huxted? Because successful HDD requires more than drilling equipment. It requires experienced personnel, detailed planning, disciplined execution, tooling knowledge, subsurface awareness and the ability to adjust when conditions change.

HDD and our project scope

Horizontal directional drilling is a steerable trenchless method used to install pipe, conduit or multiple conduits along a designed underground alignment. The process begins with a pilot bore drilled from the surface using a drill stem guided by gyroscopic or surface-locating systems. Once the pilot bore is complete, reaming tools are attached and pulled back toward the rig to enlarge the bore path to the required diameter. The product pipe or conduit is then pulled into place through the prepared bore.

At Huxted, our primary HDD focus is maxi-directional drilling: high-capacity, large-scale drilling for long-distance and large-diameter infrastructure installations. These projects often include river crossings, shore approaches, wetland crossings, major utility corridors and environmentally sensitive alignments where constructability, drilling fluid management, pullback forces, bore geometry and subsurface conditions must be evaluated in detail.

The benefits of HDD

Huxted was founded to provide an alternative to conventional trenching beneath existing infrastructure, active corridors and sensitive terrain

HDD offers significant benefits when properly designed and executed:

Reduces surface disruption to communities and businesses
Limits impacts to roads, railways, waterways and wetlands
Reduces restoration requirements
Improves worker safety by limiting open excavation
Supports longer service life and asset protection for utility owners
Allows installation beneath obstructions and restricted-access areas
Provides an efficient approach for long-distance and large-diameter utility crossings

More than 1,000 HDD crossings completed:

Power conduits
Utility lines
Communication and fiber optic conduits
Water lines
Sewer lines
Gas and petroleum pipelines

Sample HDD applications:

River crossings

HDD is frequently used to install utilities beneath rivers, lakes, streams and other waterways where open-cut construction would be disruptive, environmentally sensitive or impractical. These crossings may involve electric power, gas, petroleum, water, sewer or telecommunications infrastructure installed through varying subsurface conditions.

How HDD addresses complex construction challenges

Shore approaches

Huxted is an industry leader in land-to-water and water-to-land shore approach drilling. These installations are commonly used to connect marine or offshore infrastructure to land-based utility systems while avoiding open-cut disturbance along the shoreline.

Curved alignments

Advanced HDD planning and execution allow for designed curves, compound radii and alignment adjustments around surface and subsurface constraints. Our team evaluates setbacks, entry and exit angles, tangents, allowable bend radius, pullback requirements and utility-specific limitations to optimize the installation.

Wetland crossings

HDD is often selected for wetland crossings because it allows utilities to be installed below sensitive ecosystems while minimizing disturbance to the surface. Huxted has completed major wetland and wildlife preserve crossings, including record-setting long-distance directional drilling installations.

Large-diameter utility installations

With high-capacity rigs and extensive field experience, Huxted supports large-diameter HDD installations for critical infrastructure where bore stability, drilling fluid management, product pipe design and pullback loads must be carefully controlled.

Equipment we use

HRE and American Augers rigs
Push/pull capacity from 240,000 to 1,100,000 pounds
Drill lengths from 1,000 feet to more than 8,000 feet
Pipe and conduit diameters from 12 inches to over 48 inches

Featured projects

Key projects in Horizontal Directional Drilling

James River Crossing