The Deltaweg (N256) is one of the busiest roads in Zeeland and is an important traffic artery for passenger and freight transport. In the summer season it is extra busy due to tourist traffic. That is why work is being done to widen this road. In March 2024, Brownline surveyed 7 HDD crossings for our client Van Vulpen. They were contracted to move power cables so that the widening of the N256 would not cause problems for surrounding residential areas.
A total of 7 HDDs were carried out and the longest one (1638 m / 5374 ft) was very complex, as it required making a large S-curve underground. In this S-curve, the drill head curved 53 degrees left before curving 47 degrees right. To ensure the precision of the crossing, our highly accurate gyro was used, in combination with GPS track’s extra verification.
A complex directional drill
In this very complex HDD, GPS track was deployed on several spots as an additional check. Thanks in part to GPS track’s verification, the drills were kept on the planned course with the highest accuracy and efficiency.
Because this road crosses an environmentally sensitive area, effort had to be made to avoid mud blow-outs. Using the built-in PWD module, we could carefully monitor the pressure, which minimized the risk of a blow-out.
Through the deployment of our tools, Van Vulpen could resume operations without delay and was able to keep the disturbance to local residents to a minimum.