Underground Infrastructure - June 2023 - 21

25th Annual Directional Drilling Survey
one respondent called " rogue drillers. "
The contractor explained that " sometimes
just inexperienced contractors can
be a burden to an otherwise booming
market. " A common complaint is that
too many of the new entrants into HDD
are " leaving money on the table. "
But the most frequent complaint
about many of the new breed of HDD
contractors is that they have poor safety
and damage prevention practices. Not
only does that put lives at risk, several
contractors stressed, but ultimately it
raises costs for all.
" We don't mind competition - that's
what America is all about, " emphasized
a contractor. " But we don't want
to create dead spots around the country
where cities or utilities have banned
HDD because someone who didn't
know what they were doing walked
away or really messed up a job. "
HDDA
One promising solution in dealing with
many of these issues has been the recent
formation of the Horizontal Directional
Drilling Association (HDDA). A group
of contractors and suppliers first gathered
in 2022 to discuss the concept and
ultimately launched the HDDA.
They recently held the first formal
meeting and even conducted a mud workshop
for crews in the Dallas area. Plans are
to continue the training workshops with
different topics and rotating locations.
HDDA has strong momentum
with an established infrastructure and
finances in place to grow the association.
Committees are already beginning to
tackle many of the most common issues
facing HDD today.
Qualities and markets
The survey historically asks contractors
about the most important characteristics
they seek from their manufacturer
and supplier partners. Typically, service
and quality are by far the strongest
responses, followed by availability (support,
equipment and supplies).
As a sign of the times, there was
a shake-up this year. While service
remained the strongest desirable characteristic
of vendors, it was at a much
lower level than in the past - 30.7 percent
compared to 34.1 percent just a
year ago. In fact, availability surged into
second place, at 28.1 percent, assumably
reflective of lingering long waits
for rigs and sometimes accompanying
tools and supplies. Quality fell to third
place at 22.2 percent.
Another significant change came
with the cost of service/equipment,
which jumped to 12.6 percent, up from
7.0 percent in 2022. That was not unexpected
as inflation (including high steel
prices), combined with tight supplies,
continued to drive up equipment prices.
Even with the slowdowns in HDD
rigs and equipment, telecommunications
(essentially fiber) remains the
largest market segment by a substantial
margin, climbing to a 31.7 percent estimated
market share for 2023.
Water HDD climbed to 21 percent,
up from 20.3 in 2022. Interestingly,
water drilling experienced an even
larger growth rate for big rig work. The
value of HDD for installing water mains
continues to gain traction. With the
additional investment of federal infrastructure
dollars in the water market
through at least 2026, it's expected to
continue its climb in both small- and
large-diameter installations.
Gas distribution fell to a 17.7 percent
market share. Not surprisingly, sewer
work (primarily force mains) at 9.7
percent market share, has far surpassed
energy transmission pipeline work
(3.0 percent).
Mud disposal of drilling fluid remains
a major issue for many contractors and
was again referenced frequently in the
survey comments.
With the expansion of the fiber market
over the past few years, it's no surprise
that the average age of a contractor's
HDD rig fleet decreased in 2022.
Of course, to some degree the slower
rate of getting new rigs to customers
also impacted the age of rigs, as contractors
had to keep older equipment
operating longer.
Rigs 10 years and older comprise
about 11.9 percent of active units while
rigs that are two-to-five-years old comprise
the largest market segment at 36.0
percent, and 26.3 percent of small rigs
are under two years old.
In 2022 and continuing into 2023,
plastic pipe made big jumps as the
material of choice for HDD. With the
high steel and cast iron prices, plus a
depressed pipeline construction market,
For your next rig purchase, what size do you anticipate buying?
10
20
30
40
50
60
58.9%
38.5%
2.6%
Mini
(under 40,000
pounds/pullback)
Mid
(40,000-100,000
pounds/pullback)
Large
(more than 100,000
pounds/pullback)
UndergroundInfrastructure.com | JUNE 2023 21
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Underground Infrastructure - June 2023

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