Drilling for the renovation of Fort Shafer in Honolulu

In the summer of 2021, Brownline had the privilege to survey a drill job on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Oahu. The local military base Fort Shafer is receiving an important upgrade, which also includes an upgrade of the base’s sewer system.

The goal of this project is to bring the US Army Pacific’s headquarters in to the 21st century. The facility was established in 1907, making it the oldest military base on the island. Throughout the years, there have already been multiple renovations. The current project entails the consolidation of scattered facilities into a new and integrated complex, whilst ensuring the preservation of this historical landmark. Most of the Department of Defense’s construction projects come with strictly military contract requirements. For this project however, these requirements were waived, in order to boost the local economy by allowing local small business and contractors to take part in this project also.

Brownline’s expertise was called in by Trenchless Construction for a 618-ft drill job for the construction of an offsite sewer system. Although relatively short in length, this drill job could prove to be quite the challenge. Asides from the soil being riddled with existing pipelines, the trajectory was set out to cross a freeway. Both of these factors meant a high rate of external interference. The entry and exit points both had very little space around them and the radius and tolerances of the trajectory were very tight.

Overall, there were many factors to take into account, making the choice for the Drillguide Gyro Steering Tool the only logical one. Providing extreme accuracy and without any influence of external interference, the drill was executed swiftly and well within the set tolerances.

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