Client Yarra Valley Water needed a 65mm hole drilled for 8m under a road in suburban Doncaster, to install a 20mm pipe for a water meter service. Schultz Plumbing’s underground boring team first tried to drill the hole using a pneumatic-powered Grundomat borer, which could not handle the unexpectedly rocky ground encountered.The bed borer was sent to complete the job. Schultz marketing manager Brenton Carey said the bed borer was perfect for the shale rock and mudstone rock commonly found in Melbourne’s eastern and northern suburbs. He said the machine was also ideal for jobs with restricted access, such as under most streets and busy highways, as it could get into an area of 2m by 0.5m.“The bed borer is suited for single man operation and is quiet and safe,” he said.“Bed boring can also be used for shallow boring from a depth of 300 millimetres. For this job in Doncaster we went 700 millimetres deep before boring the eight metres across the road.“Digging the road would have required more personnel and not been as cost-effective. Other issues when you actually dig up the road are that laws require the spoil to be taken away and replaced with crushed rock – which would have to be delivered – and then re-asphalting the road surface.”The bed borer uses hydraulic power from an excavator or a truck power take-off (PTO). It is water assisted to keep the tip cool, and is capable of back-reaming larger holes for water mains and stormwater pipes up to 350mm.
