Vermeer AXIS™ guided boring system designed for on-grade installations
Underground contractors now have a new option for the trenchless installation of water and sewer lines. The AXIS guided boring system from Vermeer is a pit-launched, laser-guided method designed for the installation of 25.4 cm to 35.6 cm product pipe. The system can achieve pinpoint, on-grade accuracy and while eliminating some of the difficult steps associates with other installation techniques.
The AXIS system includes a drill rack, drill head, power unit, vacuum and vacuum tank. The modular design of key components allows the AXIS system to be configured in a number of ways for jobsite footprint and transport considerations. To understand the benefits of the system, it’s important to understand how it works.
The AXIS system setup requires two pits to be dug; one at each end of the bore. The first will serve as the launch pit; the other will be the exit pit. Once the pits are dug, the pipe laser is set in the launch pit at the grade and depth the project requires. Next the leveling frame and rack assembly are lowered into the pit, followed by the drill head which is set onto the rack. Contained within the drill head is a camera, which is connected to a display on the operator console. With the camera viewing the laser beam on the target, the operator can accurately monitor the target grade and make adjustments if the drill head moves off course.
At the front of the drill head, the cutter bit rotates to cut through the soil. The displaced soil is vacuumed out through a hollow section in the drill head and subsequent drill casing to the vacuum storage tank. After the drill head has been bored in, it is uncoupled from the carriage assembly and the carriage assembly retracts to its most rear position and is now ready for the first section of drill casing. Rotation and thrust from the carriage assembly resumes as the first drill casing is pushed through the hole. This process is repeated with 2 m segments of drill casing until the drill head reaches the exit pit.
Once the pilot bore is complete, product pipe installation can begin, which can be done in one of two ways. The first option is to push in product pipe (pipe jacking) as traditionally completed by comparable trenchless methods. In this method the casing is removed from the hole and sections of product pipe are pushed in from the launch pit. The second method allows for product to be pulled in from the exit pit. In this method, the drill head is removed and the end of the product pipe is attached to the remaining drill stem while the carriage assembly retracts from the launch pit pulling the drill stem and product pipe back through the bore.
The AXIS guided boring system includes several unique features designed to help increase productivity and flexibility. A combination of laser and camera technology allows the system to achieve the precise tolerances demanded for on-grade installations while vacuum excavation for spoil removal reduces the need to suspend drilling operations to manually remove spoil from the launch pit.
The AXIS system was first introduced at the International No Dig Show in Toronto, Canada in March 2009 where it received the North American Society of Trenchless Technology (NASTT) Innovative Product Award for new installations. More information on the AXIS guided boring system is available on the Vermeer website www.Vermeer.com or by contacting Vermeer Canada.