08/12/2026
20" Hole. 12" Pipe. Sounds Easy, Right? 😂
Well… anybody who has actually drilled one knows better.
The first picture is our brand-new welded, weighted reamer heading into the ground. This thing isn't just there to make a hole — it's designed to cut, break, and flush those cuttings back out of the bore, so we can actually get the hole opened up and ready for the pipe.
On this particular project, we quickly figured out that our usual tooling wasn't going to cut it. The ground we're dealing with is what we call (field stone)— flat rocks mixed throughout the dirt with a little gravel. Honestly, it should probably be classified as rock. 😂
So we changed the game and brought out the big guns. A welded weighted reamer built to chew through the crap we're dealing with.
And just when you think you've got everything figured out, something else decides to break.
We had our good buddy Leo at Hallow Equipment Repair working on another machine for us when we blew a hydraulic line. Leo pulled himself away from what he was doing, jumped in, helped us get the line repaired, and got us back moving.
Thanks, Leo, for always helping us keep the wheels turning!
Now here's where the math starts getting fun.
Everyone hears **"20-inch hole for 12-inch pipe"** and thinks, *Hell, that ought to be easy.*
But a 12" HDPE pipe isn't actually 12" outside diameter. It's approximately 13.2" OD. Then you've got your hole enlargement factor, actual bore volume, mud factor, and enough drilling fluid to properly carry those cuttings out of the hole.
So take that 20" hole, figure your volume, multiply it out, add your mud factor, account for the ground conditions add in cutting disposal cost...
Not to mention our fusing team fusing it all up to have it ready, for the bore crew, plus dealing with fusion Data engineers want and specified.
**You get my point. 😂**
This crew worked their asses off to make this one happen.
**375 feet of 12" HDPE is in the ground**, and we're one day closer to getting this town the water infrastructure it needs and deserves.
The second picture is that 12" HDPE **pulled all the way back to the rig.**
This is what trenchless construction is all about.
**Bad ground? Figure it out.
Tooling not working? Change it.
Hydraulic line blows? Fix it.
Bore gets tough? Keep drilling.**
That's what this crew does.
**Bonsbak Inc. — We don't quit when the ground gets tough. We figure out how to get through it.**
