Drilling & boring

Auger boring in Georgia

When the permit says steel casing on grade, the tool is the auger boring machine. Davis Underground Solutions, Inc. runs them under Georgia's roads and rails.

Call (678) 264-3333Estimates are free. Call now.

Serving all of Georgia

Davis Underground Solutions, Inc.

Directional drilling and boring across Georgia; locates, bore plan and utility coordination handled. More about Davis Underground Solutions →

(678) 264-3333

The cased crossing

An auger bore starts in a jacking pit set to the exact line and grade of the crossing. A steel casing is pushed forward by hydraulic jacks while a rotating auger inside it carries the spoil back to the pit, one casing section at a time, until the lead reaches the receiving pit. The result is a straight, grade-true, open casing under the road or the track with the ground above undisturbed. The carrier pipe is then pulled through on casing spacers and the ends are sealed.

Where Georgia requires it

GDOT state routes and interstates, under the utility accommodation policy.
Norfolk Southern, CSX and short-line railroad crossings, to the railroad's specification.
Gravity sewer crossings that must hold a precise slope.
Runways and taxiways at the state's airports.
County and city roads where the local standard calls for casing.

Ground

Auger boring suits Georgia's Piedmont clay and the firm Coastal Plain soils; rock and running sand each call for their own cutting head and fluid, and the crew has both. Georgia is three different drilling states stacked on top of each other. North of the Fall Line, which runs roughly Columbus to Macon to Augusta, the Piedmont puts red clay over saprolite over granite and gneiss, and the rock can sit a few feet down or forty. South of that line the Coastal Plain is sand, clay and marl with a high water table and almost no rock. In the northwest corner the ridges are limestone and shale, with the caves to prove it. The bit, the fluid and the production rate all change with the region, which is why the first question on any estimate is the address.

Pits and engineering

The jacking pit needs room for the machine, the casing sections and the crane; the receiving pit needs room to catch the lead. Shoring, dewatering and track protection are planned with the permit. Right-of-way permits come from whoever owns the road: GDOT for state routes and interstates through its seven districts, the county public works department for county roads, the city for city streets, Norfolk Southern and CSX for rail crossings, the Corps of Engineers and Georgia EPD where a bore passes under a navigable river or a protected wetland, and the airport or base authority on federal ground. Davis Underground Solutions, Inc. prepares the bore plan the permit asks for and files it.

Statewide

Davis Underground Solutions, Inc. is headquartered in Powder Springs, west of Atlanta, and runs the whole state. Metro Atlanta and the counties around it are home range with no mobilization fee; Columbus, Macon, Augusta, Savannah, Albany, Valdosta and everywhere between are a quoted mobilization and a crew that has already been there. Being the drilling company that actually picks up the phone and shows up is most of why the company works across Georgia. Davis Underground Solutions has the equipment list. Estimates are free. Call now: (678) 264-3333.

Estimates are free. Call now: (678) 264-3333.

Other drilling and boring services in Georgia

Directional Drilling Georgia

Horizontal directional drilling (HDD): a steered bore between two small pits that puts conduit, pipe and cable under roads, driveways, parking lots and landscaping with no open trench.

Horizontal Drilling Georgia

Horizontal drilling for any line that has to cross something it cannot cut through: a street, a slab, a canal, a stand of trees. Entry pit, exit pit, nothing opened in between.

Directional Boring Georgia

Directional boring is the small-rig end of HDD: short, shallow bores for service lines, sleeves and conduit on residential and light-commercial lots.

Underground Drilling Georgia

Underground drilling for new utilities where the surface is spoken for: tracked, steered bores placed under whatever is already built on top.

Fiber Optic Cable Drilling Georgia

Fiber duct and drop conduit installed by directional drill for carriers, co-ops, campuses and developments: long shots along the right-of-way, short shots to the building.

Electrical Conduit Drilling Georgia

PVC and HDPE electrical conduit bored under pavement for primary feeds, secondary services, site lighting and EV charging circuits.

Underground Conduit Drilling Georgia

Single ducts and multi-duct bundles pulled through one reamed bore: communications, power, controls and spares placed together under the obstacle.

Structured Cable Drilling Georgia

Conduit between buildings for structured cabling, campus networks, security and controls, bored under courtyards, drives and parking rather than cut across them.

Utility Drilling Georgia

Utility drilling for water, sewer, gas, power and telecom owners: permitted road crossings, mains under live streets, services to the meter.

Communications Drilling Georgia

Communications conduit and cable placed by directional drill: telecom, cable TV, cell-site backhaul and private networks, under roads and lots.

Missile Boring Georgia

Missile boring (pneumatic piercing) drives a steel mole through the soil for short, straight, shallow runs under a driveway or sidewalk: the quickest way to sleeve a lawn or a walk.

Sewer, Water and Drain Lines Georgia

New water services and mains, sewer force mains and laterals, and storm drains installed under roads, driveways and yards without trenching them open.

Questions about auger boring and drilling in Georgia

What casing sizes?+

From 12 inches up through the large diameters, in the wall thickness the permit requires.

How accurate is the grade?+

Within the tolerance a gravity sewer needs; the machine is set on line and grade in the pit and checked as it advances.

Railroad flagging and insurance?+

Arranged with the railroad as part of the crossing permit.

Can the carrier pipe be installed too?+

Yes: casing spacers, end seals and the pipe pulled through as one scope.

How do I get a bid?+

Send the crossing sheets or call (678) 264-3333. Estimates are free.

Auger Boring and Drilling by city in Georgia

Each community has its own page for this service. The crew, the method and the price are the same across the state; the page covers what is different about the ground and the permits there.