In May 2002, Vollers Excavating and Turner Construction Co. needed to bore 80 ft. (24 m) under Route 53 in two separate locations to install fire and domestic water lines to the Pfizer Pharmaceutical campus in Morris Plains, NJ.

Considering the length and depth of the pit requirements, Vollers contacted American Shoring for its shoring needs because the company supplies the longest lining plates in the industry. The job required 36 ft. (11 m) of inside pit space for workers and equipment.

“Installation of the whole system, including a six- by eight-foot box on the other side of the highway, took half the time that we thought it would,” said Jack Dailey, inspector of Turner. “The ease and quickness of the installation was a big factor in allowing us to get this job done on schedule.”

Going into this job, Dailey knew that the busy Pfizer location would mean that the job had to be done quickly and efficiently. The rocky soil conditions made standard hydraulic boring impossible, and local ordinances made cutting of the road unviable. Panels, 36 ft. (11 m) long, supporting the 12-ft. wide by 12-ft. deep (3.7 by 3.7 m) pit made alternative boring procedures easier.

“We had to tunnel by hand and the whole process was made easier by the simplification of this system,” said Dailey. “The time we saved by having this system in place made the changes we were forced to make mid-operation go smoother than we would have expected.”

When the first job was completed, the crew moved approximately .25 mi. (.4 km) up the road to repeat the process.

“This time, installation of the shoring system took about three hours less time, because we had been trained well the first time,” said Dailey. “Again, excavation was kept to a minimum, and the shoring went in like clockwork.”

Dailey credits American Shoring and its panels as “the simplest and easiest system” he has ever used.

For more information, call 800/407-4671 or visit www.americanshoring.com.

(This article appears courtesy of “Utility Contractor.”)