WorldWide Drilling Resource

Herrenknecht Saves Anglesea’s Holiday Adapted From Information Provided by the Herrenknecht Group In August 2015, Anglesea (located in the Australian state of Victoria) experienced the collapse of a large cliff segment, which sig- nificantly damaged the sea outfall pipe of the local water treatment plant on the Bass Strait coast. The afflicted infrastructure was part of a sewage system, and had to be replaced quickly to ensure stable wastewater disposal. The time frame for the entire operation was uncomfortably tight: three months for completion, before the Christmas holiday. There was another factor to consider. Local Point Addis Marine National Park bumped environmental protection to the top of the priority list. Australian drilling contractor, Dunstans Construction Group ordered a Herrenknecht HK250C horizontal directional drilling (HDD) rig, which had proven its effective- ness in sensitive environments in the past. The installation of the polyethylene (HDPE) pipeline required a pilot hole to be drilled from the treatment plant to the coast, and under the sea. Afterward, a borehole was reamed from the land side. Once the borehole was completed, Dunstans needed to work around another consideration - this time a logistic one. The 2296-foot long product pipe, with a 14-inch outer diameter, had to be transported by sea past Port Philip Bay, one of the busiest ports in all of Australia. However, the transport was accomplished without disrupting regular shipping. Finally, Dunstans was able to pull the pipeline floating on the sea through the predrilled alignment, and back to the treatment plant.The 250-ton pulling force of the HDD rig made the task clean, as well as quick. The pipeline was connected in time, right before Christmas. A wireless provider announced plans to offer full-length televi- sion shows for customers to watch on their cell phone. I don’t know about this. Don’t we have a enough trouble driving while on the cell phone already? Soon, you’ll be in the car, watching an episode of Two and Half Men while you run over two and a half men. Are you frustrated with the overuse of technology - cell phones, e-mails, etc.? Since the world has decided to rely on screens as the main source for human connections, I thought I would share some recent observations. Two weeks ago, I saw a couple who looked to be in their 40s texting while at dinner, so I stopped and asked them if they were texting each other. Well you can imagine the look I got from both of them as they said, “No.” Why bother to go out with your spouse or date and spend the entire time on your phone? Hello, whatever happened to talking to each other? Charles, in jail, got a call from some friend, who was complaining about low network. This friend of Charles was fed up with low-quality voice and finally asked him, "How many bars are there in your cell?" You won’t believe this, or maybe you will, but I saw a teenager almost get run over by a pickup truck as she was walking across the street texting. Give me a break. And I’ll bet if the truck had hit her, her parents would have sued someone. On a flight across the country last week, the guy sitting next to me started ar- guing with the flight attendant because he said he couldn’t hang up his phone as in- structed because he was on an important call. Is the world full of idiots, or is it just me? At a restaurant last week, there were five people having lunch and every one of them was on the phone the entire time. Ever seen that? And finally, a few days ago, I was walking in the park and observed three children under the age of ten walking with their parents and all three of them were on a cell phone. What is happening to the world? Billy Bob Contact him via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com The “Idiots” Corner by “Billy Bob Smith” 54 OCTOBER 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®