Underground Construction - July 2022 - 20

HDD Hall of Famers Helped Shape Modern Industry
himself, a phone and a used computer.
Inauspicious start
" I just kind of borrowed an office from a friend and started
calling people, " he said.
One of his first clients was a former employer, who hired him
for a project crossing the Euphrates River in Syria. " They needed
somebody to go look at it, and I don't think any of the guys who
worked there wanted to travel to Syria, " he commented.
Recognition
The first contract that really put JDHA on the map came in 1990,
when AT&T hired his three-year-old firm for a fiber optic project
with numerous river crossings, from Kansas City, Mo., to Omaha,
Neb. He brought his brother, Shaun, in to help on the job, which
involved not only the hydrographic survey, but also the technical
work and construction monitoring, including gas inspections.
That project - accomplished with help from a former Pyburn
& Odom crew - helped draw new business to the young firm
and gave Hair the confidence to start hiring new engineering
graduates to handle the growing workload.
Hair said his work served as a bridge between contractors
and designers, and modestly describes it as " somewhat of a minor
role. "
" I think people should recognize that what really fueled the
development of this industry was the initiative and just the grit
of the crews in the field. I was constantly amazed at how a setback
would not shut a job down.
" It takes a lot of skill, and that skill was brought to bear by
the cadre of craftsmen that we have in our country, " he added.
" I think that's what our industry should really be proud of, and
something that deserves to be recognized. "
Hair retired in 2018 after nearly 50 years in the industry and
facilitated an employee buyout of his company.
J.D. Hair & Associates was acquired in 2021 by Michels
Trenchless, part of Michels Corporation. It operates today as a
subsidiary of Michels Trenchless, partnering with Michels while
also working independently with customers to provide design
and engineering solutions.
FRANK CANON
Canon's unusual path to the drilling industry
was rooted in retail and launched with the
help of some baby furniture.
He was managing a Houston store named
Kid's County when he ran into a former
neighbor and coworker one weekend. The
man had just landed a job as a Baroid mud engineer
making $850 a week with a company
car and an expense account. " Sounds good to me, " Canon said.
By Monday, he was in the Baroid office where a manager
looked over his resume.
" It says here that you're the manager of Kid's County, " he
said, explaining that his pregnant wife had her eye on an infant's
furniture set on sale at the store.
" That night, they came to the store and bought the furniture
set, and on Tuesday morning he called me and said, 'Give your
two weeks' notice.' "
20 JULY 2022 | UCONonline.com
A natural born storyteller, Canon's wit and homespun humor
turned out to be a major asset as he grew to become what many
in the industry consider to be the leading authority on drilling
mud for HDD applications. But nobody would have guessed it
on his first day at Baroid, now part of Halliburton.
" On March 10, 1975, I showed up for work in Bay City,
Texas, wearing a lime green, polyester, double-knit leisure
suit, not having a clue I was going to be here 47 years later, "
Canon said of his Hall of Fame award, sharing a favorite tale.
" So, you know, I really feel honored. I don't know why. I was
just doing my job. "
He started at Baroid as an oilfield mud engineer. His dad, an
oilfield and pipeline motor engineer, told him always to have a
pocket full of pencils.
Canon covered all parts of the United States for Baroid and,
in 1991, returned to Houston to assist with its newly formed
Industrial Drilling Products Division.
In 1992, he led the team that helped educate the growing
HDD industry by giving mud schools around the world. " I
really didn't know what I was doing at first, but to be honest
with you, nobody else did either. It was so new. You just had to
figure it out, " he said.
Volume training
In 2000 alone, Canon helped train more than 4,000 people on
the best use of drilling fluids for non-oilfield applications. His
international work started in 2004.
" Between 2004 and 2015, when I retired - I counted it up
the other day - I had worked in 40 different countries and every
state in the Union except Alaska, " Canon said.
He worked in the cold of summer in Australia and the cold
of winter in Siberia, but in all his travels he didn't find a significant
difference between locations.
" You know, people used to think that going to Europe was
kind of cool and sexy, but it's sort of like going to Pittsburgh. "
Canon's retirement came on April Fool's Day, which he says
helps explain why his phone has kept ringing ever since. There
are basically two types, he says: problem calls and planning
calls. " It's a lot easier to plan what you're going to do, rather
than call about the problem. "
Many have underestimated the significance and complexity
of mud applications in HDD work over the years. During
the early days, he said, the big issue was getting contractors to
use enough fluid. " They would pump the absolute minimum
and then couldn't maintain flow. Today, they're much more
sophisticated. "
Canon describes the complexity of HDD drilling fluids in
simple terms.
" There is no universal soil, so therefore there is no universal
fluid. There is no universal soil, so therefore, there is no universal
reamer. And there is no universal soil, therefore there is no
universal volume of fluid you need to use, because that depends
on the hole size and what soil you're in and how long the bore
is, " he said. " You wind up having arrows going everywhere. " UC
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