In 2022, Brownline was involved in the construction of a long cable connection in the Dutch province of Friesland. Between two power stations, a 20 kV connection was constructed with a total length of 17.5 km / 11 mi. Several HDD crossings on this route were surveyed using the Drillguide Gyro Steering Tool.
Construction of this new connection was carried out by contractor Verkley BV. The goal was to increase the capacity of the Friesland power grid. The HDD crossings where Brownline contributed had a total length of 2 km / over 6,500 ft.
Drilling at night
The cable route was planned parallel to provincial road N359. At some locations, the work area next to the road was very narrow. To minimize the inconvenience to traffic, part of the work was done at night. This allowed for materials (including our van) to be placed on the road without it having a large impact on traffic.
The lack of space also meant that it was very important that the HDDs were perfectly accurate all the way. This is why the crossings were surveyed using our Drillguide Gyro Steering Tool. By using the most accurate steering system, the drill was kept on the planned line.
Crossing waterways
Several roads, intersections, and waterways were crossed for this project. The length of the crossings was between 72 m / 236 ft and 533 m / 1749 ft.
One of the most impressive crossings was the one under the Stroomkanaal. This 510 m / 1673 ft long crossing curved 49 degrees under the channel. After this curve, the drill crossed the N359 that ran parallel, in order to continue the cable route on the other side of the road.
With this series of HDD crossings, Brownline shows that our technology can provide solutions to a variety of drilling challenges!