Underground Infrastructure - September 2023 - 18

Directional Drilling
projects, HDD offered an option for making
crossings under rivers and other bodies
of water, highways and areas where
excavation was impossible or impractical.
An early challenge, however, was the
lack of equipment to make trenchless
pipeline crossings. Mark's solution was
to design and build his own HDD rigs,
with Robert Hamil.
Laney-built drilling equipment
quickly got larger, and it and the operating
crews became well-known and
respected in the industry for completing
long, difficult HDD installations under
adverse conditions.
Ed Malzahn (deceased)
The utility construction
industry lost a giant with
the Dec. 11, 2014, passing
of Ed Malzahn, chairman
of the Charles Machine
Works Inc., better known
as Ditch Witch. Malzahn's invention of a
compact trenching machine paved the
way for changes in the way essential utility
services are delivered to customers.
In 1948, Ed designed the world's first
compact trenching machine, a product
he envisioned could be used to dig water
and gas service lines to houses which at
that time was done by hand. Ed, a recent
engineering graduate of Oklahoma
A&M College (now Oklahoma State
University), devoted two years working
in his father's Perry machine shop to perfect
the new product. The original Ditch
Witch product was born.
He kept the company on track and focused
on its path forward. Ed did so with
respect for his employees, customers,
competitors and the industry.
In the late 1980S, Ed, always searching
for a better way to serve the utility
construction industry, partnered with
the then-named Gas Technology Institute
to develop a better steering system
for the evolving underground boring
market. Under his consultation and direction,
the slant-head boring head was
introduced - a tool that essentially made
small directional drilling practical.
The slant heard drill bit was originally
18 SEPTEMBER 2023 | UndergroundInfrastructure.com
mounted on a sled-type boring machine
and displayed at an early ICUEE Show.
Still not happy with the product, Ed purchased
the rights to a small wheel-mounted
boring machine and, along with Ditch
Witch engineers, completely overhauled
and redesigned both his sled unit and the
wheeled machine into the company first
mobile, wheeled directional drilling rig
that used the radical (at the time) slanthead
bit. The historic small directional
drill called Jet-Trac was born and the
explosion of drilling rigs followed.
Steve Akerman
Born April 20, 1956,
Steve Akerman was
raised in Lindsay, Okla.
He started his career with
the oilfield in 1974 as a
roughneck for H & P
Drilling Company. Through hard work
and determination, he worked his way up
to tool pusher. Steve continued his career
with Houston Engineering in 1978,
working as a fishing tool and blowout
consultant for eight years.
He decided to venture into his own
business in 1986 and created Akerman
Fishing
Tools,
reclaiming
damaged
wells. During this period, he also started
a ranch and farming business and in
1988, he branched out further into the
underground construction business,
starting C & S Directional Boring, working
mainly with pipelines, primarily road
boring. Steve made the company a family
business by bringing in his sons, Steven,
Mark and Matt, and son-in-law Jaime.
It was during this time that Steve started
receiving calls from industry associates
asking if horizontal directional drilling
was something he would be interested in.
After researching the technology, C&S
took the plunge and began HDD work.
As the company became more adept at
HDD, Steve built an exceptional reputation
by completing many difficult,
high-profile projects. The company was
well-known for bringing new vision and
energy to the utility construction market.
Steve sold C & S in 1997 to Mastec.
He spent two years with Mastec, heading
their nationwide HDD program.
He started Akerman Construction in
2003 and a year later he was contacted
by Sydney Water, Sydney, Australia, to
consult on multiple utility projects in
Australia and Hawaii. During this period
of his career, Akerman Construction/HWD
contracted many projects in
multiple countries and throughout the
United States.
In 2006, Steve, with years of experience
and knowledge in the oilfield and
utilizing HDD technology, became one
of the leading manufacturers of a new
style of automated oil and gas drilling
rig, featuring technology that he had designed
and patented.
The company was sold in 2014 and
Steve fully retired to enjoy life with his
wife of 40 years.
Mary Andringa
The Vermeer horizontal
direcional drilling (HDD)
product line has been a
significant part of the
company's history. The
introduction of HDD coincided
with the company's transition
from first-generation to second-generation
leadership.
Gary Vermeer found the idea of installing
utilities underground without
disturbing the surface intriguing. In the
late 1980s, his daughter, Mary, took the
idea further by forging business relationships
and leading a team of engineers and
product specialists to develop the first
Vermeer HDD.
Through Mary's leadership, Vermeer
introduced its first HDD for testing in
early 1991. The first generation of drills
required significant manual labor. So,
Mary and her team continued to develop
innovative technology to make the
HDD line more efficient and productive.
With the input of customers and dealers,
Vermeer introduced its first self-contained
drill in 1993. By the end of the
nineties, HDD accounted for half of the
company's business.
The team led by Mary achieved important
milestones in the 1990s, includ
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