Founded in 2000 by Kevin and Vivian Moss, MME Underground Services was originally an owner-operator excavations business primarily working in the resources and utilities sector.
By 2002 it had become a vendor to Western Power and two years later a pre-qualified contractor to the Water Corporation.
The business, then known as Mossy’s Mini Excavations, became a qualified Category 3 Contractor for Rio Tinto Iron Ore and commenced works on the National Broadband Network Project in Geraldton.
In 2018 the company name was changed to MME Underground Services following its acquisition a year earlier by new management.
With strong ties to Civcon Civil & Project Management, current leadership have scaled up with particular emphasis on expanding directional drilling capabilities, cable laying, and pipe installation services within the Western Australian utilities sector.
It concentrates services largely around the Perth metropolitan area. Publicised growth in the Energy Sector has encouraged MME to increase its horizontal directional drilling footprint.
“Historically we have done a lot of underground feeder cable and funded works for Western Power,” said Operations Manager Lorenzo De Villiers.
This has subsequently led to working on major projects for Western Power such as the conversion of overhead powerlines to underground across their vast distribution network as well as overhead transmission conversion to underground for Western Power’s Clean Energy Link program.
MME is now considered a frontrunner in the execution of this highly technical work in Western Australia.
“Predominantly it is a business that focuses on utilities construction and using a method of horizontal directional drilling to achieve that,” said De Villiers.
“There has been pretty significant growth within the company over the past two years particularly expanding through all the different utility providers that we’re working for.”
That in turn has facilitated shrewd, strategic investments in new state-of-the-art equipment and technology, a recent legacy the company is renowned for.
It makes sense, too. MME offers specialised albeit diversified services from pillar to pole installations to large feeder and pipeline upgrades that often require several kilometres of cable or pipe to be installed in heavily congested metropolitan environments.
Within its serious fleet of equipment which includes flexi drills, vacuum excavation trucks, vertical earthing drills, excavators, bobcats, loaders, cable winches, cable drum stands, tip trucks, and mud reclaiming systems, is six horizontal directional drill rigs, all of which have been supplied exclusively from Ditch Witch CEA.
The HDD rigs are a mix of Ditch Witch JT10s, JT20s and JT24s.
These units are highly suitable for the urban projects MME attends.
”Because the work is metro-based, mostly in brownfield conditions, there’s not a lot of room to manoeuvre, you’re constrained by the amount of room you have around you to work in, with traffic management and pedestrian management added to those considerations, the smaller bits of equipment work quite well for us,” said De Villiers.
“Of course, when you don’t have to trench roads and footpaths and you can drill instead, there’s a significant saving not only in reinstatement but obviously in impact to the community and people using these areas affected by the works.”
De Villiers, who joined the company two years ago, said MME exclusively partners with Ditch Witch CEA for its HDD applications.
“We only use Ditch Witch,” he said. “We prefer the manufacturer and the service provided by those guys. We find that most people with expertise in the area use that equipment both locally and in North America as well. There’s less breakdowns associated with it. Uptime is critical for us.”
MME most recently introduced a Ditch Witch JT24. The Cummins-powered 101-horsepower diesel powerplant is augmented by dual thrust motors delivering the equivalent of 24,000 pounds of pullback all while helping operators maintain a modest onsite footprint.
Advanced wireless ground drive and setup control are offered enabling the end-user to calibrate the drill away from the operator station.
The Ditch Witch JT24 can be operated in single or dual-stick ground drive to further enhance drill precision.
“It’s a little bit bigger than the JT20s but only slightly in terms of footprint,” said De Villiers. “And there’s a lot more power in regards to its production. Even though you don’t have to increase your footprint as much, you can still then deliver larger scopes of work in tougher terrain.”
He added, “That’s been quite a good addition to the business. It has allowed us to function in areas that we want to function which is the metro region but also have a little bit more grunt in order to tackle the tougher scopes.”
The Ditch JT24 is utilised on power projects in North Perth and Mount Hawthorn where over 2,500 customers are receiving power infrastructure through the new underground network once the overhead powerlines have been removed.
The project commenced in November, 2024, and is scheduled for completion this July.
“We use a range of Ditch Witch machines varying in size in order to execute that work,” said De Villiers.
“There are varying constraints onsite in terms of areas of footprint we can utilise. We’re obviously trying to save as much of the hardscape for the community and not impact them by having too much reinstatement. Having drill rigs to do the work rather than open excavating everything and causing massive upheaval is quite critical for the work.”
Ground cable installation involves technical expertise in at least five different cables across several conduit sizes.
MME is handling streetlight service cable, standard distribution service cable, 240LV mains cable, 35HV and up to 400HV cable.
“The cables are housed in different conduit sizes,” explained De Villiers.
“Everything ranging from 50mm PVC through to 160PE conduit.”
Demand for feeder cable construction is on the rise. Key drivers in the segment although hardly limited to it include secure power distribution, renewable energy integration, and smart city developments.
The market in the United States was valued last year at USD$84 billion. By 2033 it is forecast to be worth USD$116 billion.
In Western Australia, as urban expansion, integration of renewable energy, and stabilising the grid against adverse weather events are prioritised in a solid economic environment, providers of communications, water, power and gas are all shifting their focus underground, if they haven’t already, as part of future proofing solutions.
“It doesn’t matter which section you are talking about,” said De Villiers.
“They’re no longer putting it above ground nor putting people at risk. So, everyone is looking to increase where they are putting their cables and we’re running out of room with all the different alignments because everyone is putting everything underground.”
Even so, the push to net zero for the power sector is helping to fuel the growth of the market. Other utilities are having, according to De Villiers, to keep up with what’s happening.
“From energy to NBN, all those guys are upgrading their networks consistently,” he said.
“There’s always room for growth when it comes to underground drilling and HDD.”
For more information, visit cea.net.au
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