Horizontal Directional Drilling Through the Years

Like most good ideas, horizontal directional drilling did not spring forth fully formed. It took many years, and incremental developments in directional technologies, to get to where we are today. A lot of the HDD tools, methods and transmitter location systems we take for granted were based on technology created for different purposes, such as oil well drilling and general construction. So, to understand where we're going, it's vital to know how far our industry has come.

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The Early Days of Horizontal Directional Drilling: The s to s

The true history of horizontal directional drilling began long before HDD itself. While HDD proper didn't emerge as a viable technology in construction until the s, the seeds of innovation were sown well before that. Before that first job could occur, a number of technological advancements had to be made.

Melfred Begins

In , Fred Melsheimer started Melfred Welding & Manufacturing. In addition to being a machinist and welder, Melsheimer designed and invented many tools and techniques that would form the basis for horizontal directional drilling. In particular, he pioneered the slurry, or "wet," boring process &#; the foundation of all modern-day HDD.

With much of the same spirit, Fred's sons, Ted and Dick Melsheimer, started working at the company in , joining full-time in . Together, they developed the DynaMole self-propelled hydraulic boring machine, which made longer bores possible. In , Dick and Ted obtained a patent on the DynaMole. Part of that patent was the method of pulling a utility in behind a backreamer during horizontal drilling. Years later, because he had this claim as part of the patent, Dick was able to successfully stop a company from being able to charge a licensing fee to all contractors who used horizontal directional drilling. Ultimately, this saved the industry millions of dollars.

Enter Martin Cherrington

In the s, another figure emerged who would be crucial to the birth of HDD. When Martin Cherrington watched a gas line installed using a handheld air drill, he got an idea for guided drilling. Eventually, this led to Cherrington custom building an early version of a directional drilling rig in to complete road boring jobs.

Formative Locating Technology

Additionally, there were several developments from the mid-s through the late-s that would form the basis for transmitter location systems. The technology used for sewer line tracking and cable locating systems provided these building blocks, which would be strengthened years later through the addition of transistors and microprocessors.

Breakthrough Years: The s

In , a huge breakthrough happened while Martin Cherrington was installing gas lines for the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) &#; and they had to cross the Pajaro River in central California. Knowing he'd developed a new type of rig and was using some methods that were unconventional at the time, PG&E wanted him to try drilling underwater. It took some time, but the project was a success. In many ways, this opened the door for more projects and advancements. The construction industry saw this, along with Dick Melsheimer's numerous developments, as proof that horizontal directional drilling was a viable method of underground utility installation that caused minimal disruption to the surroundings.

The Development of the First Electronic Drill Bit Locator

In the late 70s, Dick Melsheimer, working with Goldac Co., introduced the first electronic drill bit locator. This locator served as a direct ancestor to modern-day walkover transmitter location systems, a core component of horizontal directional drilling equipment. While this technology, as well as Cherrington's contributions, still wouldn't be commonplace for quite some time, they were key stepping stones toward a thriving HDD industry.

The Modernization of Horizontal Directional Drilling Equipment: The s

The breakthroughs of the 70s led directly into the major technological developments of horizontal directional drilling equipment in the s &#; and that ball hasn't stopped rolling. In , Dick Melsheimer started a new company called Borzall Equipment to focus on producing long-lasting reamers, bits and other HDD tools. Later in the decade, he would join back up with Melfred Welding to form Melfred Borzall.

Technology Takes a Leap

The late 80s saw significant leaps in magnetic steering technology, marking a turning point for the industry. In , Radiodetection, a UK utilities testing equipment company, produced the first radio transmitter (also called a sonde). The addition of sondes to directional drilling rigs would mean that drillers could know the orientation of the steer face on their bits, as well as the location and depth, allowing them to guide the bore fully.

Modern HDD Rigs

And with that, HDD really started taking off. Also in the late s, a company called FlowMole produced the first true HDD rig of the modern era but did not make it commercially available. Instead, they sold their HDD services for installing utilities.

Around , Dick Melsheimer and the crew at Melfred Borzall began developing the first horizontal directional drilling rig that would be sold commercially: The Sure Shot Directional Drilling System.

It All Comes Together: The s to s

The introduction of the Sure Shot in opened the HDD floodgates. It was available to contractors and drillers everywhere and introduced several revolutionary features, such as an electric strike alarm and electric over hydraulic control valves for improved control, visibility and safety. Melfred Borzall demoed the Sure Shot around the U.S. and even sold one in New Zealand in , which was used to complete the first directionally drilled river crossing. Horizontal directional drilling was now a global phenomenon in the construction industry.

The Arrival of the DigiTrak Transmitter Location System

In , another major milestone happened in regards to walkover tracking systems. Digital Control introduced the DigiTrak system, designed from the ground up to locate boring tools (rather than cables as had been the standard). The DigiTrak quickly became a crucial piece of horizontal directional drilling equipment, giving drill rig operators roll, pitch and more accurate location and depth readings &#; and at deeper depths. The DigiTrak transmitter location system also introduced a remote display, allowing the operator to see what the locator saw.

The Rise of the Internet &#; And New Markets for HDD

As popularity and demand for the internet rose in the mid-90s, so did the need for fiber optic cable installations. This proved to be a massive market for HDD. By the year , nearly half of underground jobs were completed using horizontal directional drilling equipment &#; mostly due to demand from telecommunications companies. However, this boom happened quickly and started to fizzle out. It evened out eventually, though, and most experts speculate that the HDD industry will see steady demand from the fiber optic and telecom markets for the foreseeable future.

Horizontal Directional Drilling in the Here And Now

Over the years, HDD tools have become more and more sophisticated to handle larger and larger jobs. The technology is more wide-reaching and effective, giving drillers more control. Because twenty-first century advances in HDD equipment have made the process more user-friendly, drilling has become a viable career option for many people. The work of all of those who contributed to the development of HDD has paid off big time &#; it is now a proven method that offers a cost-effective solution to construction problems. Since the process doesn't disturb natural beauties on the ground's surface, many people have also recognized its unique environmental benefits, which secures HDD's place in the future of construction and utility installation.

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Step Into The Future with Melfred Borzall

We're proud of our place in HDD history, but we have our eyes planted on the future. We craft all of our horizontal directional drilling tools with the same pioneering spirit we've had since the beginning, and we've made it our mission to get our customers the parts they need faster and more efficiently. Whether it be the FastBack system or the Pit Bull design, we're constantly innovating to find the most efficient and productive means of installing utilities underground. So, take a leap forward with us &#; we've got a pretty good idea of where things are headed.

"Slanted oil wells are the latest sensation of the oil industry...drilled by experts who use special tools and secret methods to send the bit burrowing into the ground at strange angles, they are finding amazing new applications."

-Popular Science Monthly, May

Great adversity seems to bring out the best in the oil industry. Just like the fires of Kuwait saw the rise of new and innovative well control procedures in -, directional drilling as-a-whole had a kick start from a massive well control event that occurred near Conroe, TX in -. The efforts to control the renegade well were headed by the Humble Oil & Refining Company and a well surveying expert named H. John Eastman who would later be credited as "the Father of Directional Drilling."

First, Some Context

The year is . The Great Depression is in full swing, and oil costs less than $1 per barrel (about $17/bbl in today's money). The Texas Railroad Commission have started a crackdown on drilling and completion practices in Conroe, TX. They worry about the geological integrity of the Conroe Field. The shallow sands are charged with gas. The deeper oil reservoir is unconsolidated and potentially unstable. Despite operators' best efforts to prevent it, eventually the ground gives way.

In January, completions fail on Madeley No.1 (owned by Standard Oil of Kansas) and starts a chain reaction. The well takes an uncontrolled kick and catches fire. The casing collapses and the wellhead sinks into a giant crater. As the crater grows, it swallows several surrounding wells. The crater becomes a burning lake of oil. After months of firefighting and drilling relief wells to bleed off the reservoir pressure, the fire subsides, but the lake of oil still remains.

One well in particular, No. 1 M. H. Alexander (owned by Harrison and Abercrombie Oil Company) would continue to cause problems. Alexander No. 1 was one of the wells swallowed by the crater. Its operator thought the well had been effectively killed--its casing crushed by shifting formations during the previous well control operations. On June 20, the well erupts. At this point, Alexander No. 1 was nothing more than an unchoked open hole. At its peak in August, experts estimate it was producing more than 92,000 bbl of oil per day.

The Railroad Commission would not allow it. The unchoked well's production exceeded its permitted quota threefold. The local economy could not reasonably handle the surplus supply of crude, and the integrity of the entire Conroe Field was in danger. Facing pressure from the other operators in the field and fines from the TRRC, Harrison and Abercrombie turned to Humble Oil & Refining Co. who had an idea for killing the fugitive well.

Up until , relief wells were typically drilled in close proximity to the wells that were blowing out. To approach and kill flowing wells, relief wells were drilled at a slight angle by tilting the rig's rotary table. With unstable geology and the fact that Alexander No. 1 was now in the center of a growing lake, Humble Oil Co. would have to think outside of the box. A tilted rotary table would not be able to place the relief well close enough to Alexander No. 1. Instead, Humble would attempt the first ever directionally-drilled relief well.

The Surveyor from Long Beach

Humble Oil & Refining contracted the help of H. John Eastman. Eastman was an expert well surveyor. Based out of Long Beach, CA, the Eastman Oil Well Surveying Co. were pioneers in well surveying technology. In , Eastman would introduce the oil industry to directional drilling, eventually patenting his technique in .

Eastman's method was simple but extremely innovative for the time. Its "secret" as described by Popular Science Magazine involved nothing more than running a mechanical whipstock into the open hole. Once in place, the whipstock would deflect the bit in the oriented direction. Eastman used a visual reference on surface and simple geometry to determine the proper orientation of the whipstock. If the survey results showed the well needed to change direction, he would run another whipstock. The whipstock deflection technique had seen first use in the early s in Huntington Beach, CA to position wells drilled from the beach to offshore oil deposits. The technique also saw use in the development of the Long Beach and Signal Hill fields, as operators could now direct the wells under urban development.

Despite the early success of Easton's whipstock technique, the rest of the industry saw it as nothing more than a niche application. That is, until Autumn of .

The First Directional Relief Well

On November 12, , Eastman and company arrived on location of Humble Oil & Refining's relief well, approximately 400 ft from the crater lake. They planted the first whipstock at ft. The well successfully deviated from vertical and reached the target formation on January 7, . Humble brought in steam-powered pumps to flood the reservoir with brine, killing the well. Finally, nearly a year after the initial blowout of Madeley No.1, the Conroe Oilfield had been brought back under control.

Eastman's efforts did not go unnoticed. He was recognized by Popular Science Monthly in their May issue. The issue describes the directional drilling and surveying process as follows:

&#;Into the hole went a single-shot surveying instrument of Eastman&#;s own invention. As it hit bottom, a miniature camera within the instrument clicked, photographing the position of compass needle and a spirit-level bubble.

&#;Again Eastman caused the bit to swerve like a living thing, plunging straight down to 5,135 feet. Here, at last, it struck the oil formation. Thousands of gallons of water could be pumped into the borehole. Within a few hours, the flood of oil ceased spouting from the crater. Eastman&#;s relief well had done its work.&#;

-Popular Science Monthly, May

The Eastman Oil Well Surveying Co's reputation exploded after they successfully killed No. 1 M. H. Alexander. The exposure to his directional drilling techniques helped the rest of the industry realize the advantages of directionally-drilled wells. In the coming decades, Eastman would be immortalized as the "Father of Directional Drilling."

Epilogue

Whipstocks would remain the primary steering mechanism for directional drilling until the mid-s, when downhole positive displacement motor technology (a.k.a. mud motors) started gaining traction.

Crater Lake still exists--it's south-east of Conroe. The massive 600-ft hole has since filled with water. Supposedly it's a bit dumpy, as locals claim people have used it for unsavory practices, like abandoning cars, or in some cases dumping bodies.

For More on the Conroe Crater Fire:

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