Trenchless Australasia was in attendance and spoke to the developers of the rig.
The DD-4045 has an 18.14 tonne pullback and a rotary torque of 4,500 pounds (6,101 Nm). The rig also has a cruise control capability and can carry 158.5 metres of drill pipe.
Astec Underground’s Utility Project Manager Carl Seeliger said that the DD-4045 has been received well in the industry because of their ground-up design concept.
“Generally, engineers create the machines and then go and train customers how to use the machine.
“We took a new concept approach with the DD-4045 – we found out first what the industry wanted in a HDD rig, and then created it for them,” said Mr Seeliger.
From initial concept to release, the DD-4045 took 13 months to realise, inclusive of a ten month testing phase.
Astec Ungerground HDD Trainer Mike Nameth said that thanks to all the industry feedback he had accumulated from working on the ground with the HDD rig operators, there wasn’t much need to go back and forth to consult with the industry during the construction phase.