In May 2022, Brownline’s expertise was employed to survey two bores in Berlin. Right in the middle of the city, the bores crossed a busy intersection, with many obstacles and interfering elements above and below ground. The solution to keeping these bores on track was the Drillguide Gyro Steering Tool.
Commissioned by Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG, LÜBA Leitungsbau GmbH is installing pipes to be used for district heating. In the Kreuzberg district, two parallel bores had to cross under a busy intersection. In addition, the bores had to cross under the U-Bahn tunnels.
In such a demanding environment, you need very accurate steering. Moreover, it is crucial that the measurements are not influenced by the surrounding infrastructure’s interference. Even with traffic lights, subway tunnels, and a lot of traffic on all sides, the Drillguide Gyro Steering Tool allows for undisturbed drilling.
From the entry point on the Obentrautstraße, the bore travelled 180 m / 590 ft eastwards. It dove to a depth of 18 m / 59 ft to cross under the intersection’s pipes and also under the subway tunnels. The bore crossed the intersection without interrupting the flow of traffic. On the Blücherstraße at the other side of the intersection, the bore resurfaced.
Even bores at a location such as this one, with very narrow margins, become possible with the Drillguide Gyro Steering Tool’s accuracy. After this pilot drilling, LÜBA could resume with installing the district heating pipes.