With development expanding in the northwest section of Wichita, Kan., the city hired local contractor Wildcat Construction to open-cut and replace 10-inch water mains with 32.6-inch HDPE pipe.
The project also included extending the upgraded mains. One line would pass under Dry Creek, 160 feet wide, and through a 14-foot right-of-way with overhead power lines. Ditch work was out of the question, so project superintendent Dan Voegeli hired Horizontal Boring & Tunneling Co. in Exeter, Neb., to install 680 feet of pipe using horizontal directional drilling.
Although the length of the bore was short, the project was arduous. “So many circumstances piled
