Double Take-- by Mark Sproxton

Sitting comfortably behind a long, noisy machine with a pipe running from its nose into the ground, the operator quickly pulls his hands off the controls and makes a series of hand signals. Twenty metres away another worker stands also making hand signals. These two operate a horizontal drill and are carefully manoeuvering the drill around an existing gas line and have to be careful.

Similar to a vertical drill, only tipped on its side, a horizontal drill is used to install utility connections, gas lines, sewer lines, telecommunication lines and other lines that are buried under the ground. These drills are what in the industry is known as trenchless technology. Essentially that means instead of ripping apart the ground to lay the tubing and then covering it back up, the horizontal drill can complete the installations by boring under the ground.

"What is so much more interesting is you don't just sit and pull levers," Brian Mack, co-owner of BRT Construction Services, said about operating this unique piece of heavy equipment. "You have to have an understanding of mathematics."

Two operators are required for these machines, one to handle the controls for the drill, the other to constantly monitor via a hand-held computer where the drill is located. The seated operator controls the way the drill bit spins, pushes or pushes fluid to help cut through the earth. The mobile operator uses the computer to send signals to electronics on the drill bit telling him the position of the drill bit, how deep it is and the angle it's moving.

And that's where the math comes in. Every three metres or so the operators use the computer equipment to calculate the numbers telling them the position, depth and pitch of the drill bit. If any adjustments are required to the drill bit, the operators will use hand signals, or radios, to verify those corrections. Once they drill to the designated spot, they'll push the drill out of the ground, remove the drill head and install a hole expander to the drill along with the gas line, for example, to pull back to the original point of drilling completing the installation.

Like most other heavy equipment operators, horizontal drill operators are busiest in the summer often working 10 hours or more a day. But Mack said this winter he was able to have crews operating year-round. With experienced operators earning over $18 an hour, he said there are plenty of opportunities to make good money. "Once you commit to drilling, you can't leave it half-done. If you run into problems, you can't pick up and go home, you have to stay and finish it."

There are no special licensing requirements to operate a horizontal drill, but many of the operators do have a Class 3 operator's licence to drive the trucks used to move the horizontal drills from work site to work site. "It's hands-on training," Mack said. "If guys have experience running hydraulic equipment with basic math skills, I can train (them). You have to have a decent grasp of math. That really comes into play when doing drill planning and to decide where to go and how to get there. And our best operators have the ability to see the drill underground without seeing it."

Having worked in the excavating business for years, Mack said the work opportunities for horizontal drillers look good. "We've seen tremendous growth recently, especially with the growth of the high-speed internet and fibre optics. (Those) opportunities will continue."