Project Planning

# What to Expect on a Directional Drilling Project

TLDR

Five stages: **locate and plan**, mobilize, execute, **document**, closeout. Settle site access, utility locate status, and the **restoration standard** before the crew mobilizes.

Last updated February 1, 202614 min read

A directional drilling project runs in five stages: locate and plan, mobilize, execute, document, and closeout. Expect utility locates before any equipment arrives, entry and exit pits at the crossing ends, a single point of contact for daily updates, and a closeout package with bore records and as built documentation.

## What actually sets the schedule on a directional drilling job?

Three things set the schedule on a directional drilling job: how long utility locates take, whether the permit is in hand, and how much site access the crew has. Drilling time is usually the smallest block on the calendar, which surprises owners who budget the schedule around production rates.

Bring the route, the crossing points, the conduit or cable specification, the required cover, and the right of way owner to the first conversation. If a plan set exists, send it. If it does not, a marked up aerial photo showing intended entry and exit locations is enough to start a real discussion.

Expect a site walk before any firm plan. Soil, existing utility congestion, pit locations, fluid containment areas, staging space, and equipment access all have to be seen rather than assumed.

The site walk is also where the awkward questions get asked while they are still cheap: who unlocks the gate, where the crew parks, whether the driveway can carry the equipment, which neighbor needs notice, and who signs off on restoration. None of those belong in a change order later.

## What should you send before the site walk?

A short package up front removes most of the back and forth. Send whatever exists, mark clearly what is assumed rather than confirmed, and do not wait for a complete set before starting the conversation.

- Route and crossing locations, even as a marked up aerial photo.
- Conduit or cable specification, quantity, and who is supplying it.
- Required cover and any separation requirements the owner specifies.
- The right of way owner for each segment, and any permit already applied for or issued.
- Existing utility records for the corridor, including private facilities where the owner holds them.
- Restoration expectations, especially where a municipality or an HOA has its own standard.
- Required closeout deliverables and the format the records have to arrive in.
- Access constraints: gates, hours, weight limits, staging areas, and site contacts.

## Stage One: Locate and Plan

Every project starts with a Sunshine 811 ticket. Notification before excavation is required by Florida law, and the ticket has a working life, so the schedule is built around marks being valid when the crew is on site, not just when the ticket was filed.

Locate marks give horizontal position. They do not give depth. Wherever the bore path crosses an existing facility, plan on potholing to expose it and confirm depth. That is normal work, it belongs in the price, and skipping it is a common root cause of a strike.

Planning also covers the bore profile: entry and exit points, entry angle, depth at the crossing, minimum separation from existing facilities, and the pullback plan for the product being installed. Permit conditions from FDOT, the county, or the municipality shape all of it, so the permit and the profile get designed together rather than in sequence.

This stage is where a project either gets its contingency or spends it later. An hour spent confirming a record drawing against a pothole, or checking a permit condition against the drawn profile, routinely saves days at the crossing. Owners who compress this stage to save time almost always pay it back in the field.

## Stage Two: Mobilize

Mobilization means the drill, support equipment, fluid mixing and containment, vacuum excavation, and traffic control arrive and the work zone is established. Expect the footprint to concentrate on the entry side, with a smaller area at the exit.

Traffic control goes up before work starts wherever the zone touches a roadway. Maintenance of traffic requirements come from the permit and set lane closure hours, device spacing, and flagging. On residential streets this usually means short duration closures plus driveway access coordination with residents.

Entry and exit pits are opened and are the only planned surface disturbance between them. Fluid containment is established before drilling begins, not after the first return surfaces.

Expect a short pre work briefing on site covering the profile, the located facilities, the potholes already exposed, the containment plan, and who stops the work if something looks wrong. Any crew member can call that stop. On a bore, the cost of an unnecessary pause is minutes and the cost of not pausing can be a damaged main.

## Stage Three: Execute

The pilot bore is drilled first and tracked with a locating system that confirms depth and position against the design profile. Corrections happen during the pilot, which is why the pilot pass is the part of the job worth watching if you only watch one.

Once the pilot reaches the exit, the hole is reamed to the diameter the product requires, and the conduit or cable is pulled back through in a controlled operation. Pullback is normally continuous once it starts, so the crew stages everything it needs before beginning.

Crossings of existing utilities are approached at the potholed locations with the profile already verified. If a field condition differs from the plan, work stops and the plan is adjusted rather than pushed through. That pause is a feature, and it is far cheaper than the alternative.

Drilling fluid returns are monitored throughout. A loss of returns or an unexpected pressure change is information, not an inconvenience, and it usually means the profile or the fluid program needs attention before the pass continues. This is where discipline separates a clean crossing from an incident report.

## Stage Four: Document

Documentation is generated during the work, not reconstructed afterward. Bore records capture the profile actually drilled. Photos capture pit conditions, existing utility exposures, product installed, and restoration in progress. Daily production reporting keeps the owner current without having to ask.

Conduit verification, including mandrel or duct rodding and proof of continuity, is recorded before the pits close. Tracer wire is tested and its termination points noted. Handhole and vault locations are captured for the as built record.

Anything that becomes invisible after backfill gets photographed before backfill. That single habit resolves most future disputes and makes the next crew on that route safer.

Agree the documentation format before the work starts. An owner who needs records in a specific mapping or GIS format, or a specific naming convention for handholes and splice points, should say so at kickoff. Rebuilding a package at closeout to match a standard nobody mentioned is wasted effort on both sides.

## Stage Five: Closeout

Closeout is when the site is restored, the documentation package is delivered, and the permit is released. Restoration matches the pre existing condition: pavement patched to the agency standard, sod replaced, irrigation repaired, and the work zone cleaned.

The closeout package normally includes as built route documentation, bore records, photo documentation, conduit verification results, tracer wire notes, splice records where splicing was in scope, and fiber test results where testing was in scope.

Restoration acceptance is worth walking in person. Sod that was replaced but not watered, an irrigation zone that was reconnected but not tested, and a pavement patch that has not settled are all easier to correct while the crew is still nearby than a month later.

A project is not finished when the fiber is in the ground. It is finished when the owner holds records that let the next crew work safely on that route without guessing.

## What does the site look like during work?

Owners and property managers usually want to know the physical footprint before they approve access. This is the normal picture for a single crossing.

| Element | What to expect | How long it is present |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Entry pit | Small excavation at the launch side | Open during the bore, backfilled at completion |
| Exit pit | Smaller excavation at the receiving side | Open during the bore, backfilled at completion |
| Drill and support units | Concentrated on the entry side | Duration of the crossing |
| Fluid mixing and containment | Contained area near the entry pit | Duration of the crossing |
| Vacuum excavation unit | Used for potholing and pit cleanup | Intermittent |
| Traffic control devices | Per the permitted traffic control plan | Whenever the zone touches the roadway |
| Spoil and cuttings | Contained, then hauled or disposed per permit | Removed at completion |
| Restoration work | Backfill, compaction, surface repair | After the pullback is complete |

## Who is responsible for what?

Projects run smoothly when this split is agreed in writing before mobilization. The division below is the common arrangement, and every line of it is negotiable as long as somebody owns it.

| Item | Typically owner or GC | Typically contractor |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Route and design intent | Provides | Verifies constructability |
| Right of way permit applicant | Often the owner or franchise holder | Supplies bore details and exhibits |
| Sunshine 811 ticket | Coordinates across trades | Files and maintains for its own excavation |
| Site access and staging | Provides | Confirms adequacy at the site walk |
| Existing utility records | Provides what it holds | Locates, potholes, verifies in the field |
| Material supply | Varies by contract | Confirms specification and quantities |
| Traffic control | Varies by permit | Sets and maintains per the approved plan |
| Restoration standard | Defines acceptance | Executes and documents |
| Closeout format | Defines required deliverables | Produces the package |

## What actually stops or delays a bore?

Rain rarely stops drilling by itself. What stops work is standing water in the pits, saturated ground that will not support equipment, lightning in the work zone, and access roads that will not carry a load. A Florida afternoon storm is usually a pause rather than a lost day.

The delays that really move a schedule are administrative: locate marks expiring, permit conditions changing, third party utility conflicts discovered during potholing, and material arriving late. Those are visible in advance, which is why a weekly look ahead is worth more to a schedule than a daily weather forecast.

If a bore encounters an unexpected obstruction, the honest answer is that the profile may need redesign and a second attempt on a different alignment. Saying that up front turns schedule contingency into a conversation instead of a surprise.

Florida heat is its own scheduling factor. Summer work often shifts earlier in the day, and permits on busy corridors sometimes require night or off peak windows. Both change crew availability and should be reflected in the schedule rather than absorbed silently by the crew.

## How will you hear from the crew during the job?

You should have one name and one number for the duration of the project. That person knows what the crew did yesterday, what it is doing today, and what could change tomorrow.

Expect a daily production report on active days covering footage placed, crossings completed, conditions encountered, and anything that needs an owner decision. Expect a phone call, not an email, for anything that affects schedule or cost, on the day it happens.

Escalation should be short. If a field decision needs an engineer or an inspector, it gets raised while the crew is still on site, not in a week end summary after the opportunity has passed.

Property owner communication belongs in the same channel. Residents and tenants want to know when the crew arrives, how long the driveway is affected, and who to call. Handling that proactively prevents most complaints, and complaints on a right of way job cost far more time than the notice would have.

## Which surprises come up most often, and how do you avoid them?

Every item below is cheaper to find at the site walk than at mobilization. Ask for the walk, and bring whoever controls access.

- Unmarked private facilities on commercial property, including irrigation, site lighting, and privately owned electric.
- Existing utilities at depths that do not match record drawings, discovered during potholing.
- Permit conditions requiring a deeper profile or different pit locations than the plan assumed.
- Restoration standards stricter than assumed, especially in municipalities with recently paved streets.
- Access limits found at mobilization: gates, weight limits, overhead clearance, and staging conflicts.
- Locate tickets that expire between planning and mobilization, forcing a re ticket and a wait.
- Homeowner or tenant coordination on driveways and irrigation that nobody scheduled.
- Closeout deliverable formats that were never defined, discovered only when the package is submitted.

## Key takeaways

- Locates, permits and site access set the schedule on most directional drilling jobs, and drilling time is usually the smallest block.
- Sunshine 811 marks show horizontal position only, so potholing at every crossing belongs in the plan and in the price.
- The pilot bore is the stage worth watching, because that is where steering corrections happen.
- Anything that becomes invisible after backfill should be photographed before backfill.
- A project is finished when the owner holds records that let the next crew work on the route without guessing.

## Key terms

**Pilot bore**: The first, small diameter pass of a directional drill from entry to exit. It is steered and tracked with a locating system against the design profile, and its path sets the final position of the conduit or cable that gets installed.

**Back reaming**: Pulling a reamer back through the pilot hole to enlarge it to the diameter the product needs. Depending on product size and soil, one or more reaming passes may run before the conduit or cable is pulled into the hole.

**Pullback**: The stage where conduit or cable is attached behind the reamer through a swivel and pulled back through the enlarged hole from exit to entry. It normally runs continuously once started, so all product and equipment is staged first.

**As-built documentation**: Records showing where facilities were actually installed, as opposed to where the design placed them. For a bore it includes the drilled profile, pit and handhole locations, depth data, photos and verification results, delivered in the format the owner specifies.

**Maintenance of traffic (MOT)**: The plan and devices that keep vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians moving safely around a work zone. Permit conditions set closure hours, device spacing and flagging, and a plan is required whenever the zone touches a roadway, shoulder or sidewalk.

*The five stages at a glance*

| Stage | What happens | What the owner does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Locate and plan | 811 ticket, potholing, bore profile, permit conditions | Provides route, records and access contacts |
| Mobilize | Equipment arrives, traffic control goes up, pits open, containment staged | Confirms staging, gates and resident notice |
| Execute | Pilot bore, reaming, pullback, fluid returns monitored | Stays reachable for field decisions |
| Document | Bore records, photos, conduit verification, tracer wire testing | Confirms the required record format |
| Closeout | Restoration, package delivery, permit release | Walks the restoration and accepts the package |

*Outside plant project lifecycle*

## What this means for your project

Most schedule risk on a directional drilling job sits before the crew arrives. Locate tickets that expire, permit conditions that change the profile, and access limits found at mobilization each cost more time than a difficult crossing. Put the site walk, the permit review and the potholing plan on the schedule as real tasks with owners and dates.

Cost surprises usually come from scope nobody wrote down: a restoration standard stricter than assumed, private facilities that were never located, or a closeout format defined only at the end. Settling the responsibility split in writing before mobilization removes most of them. Agree the documentation deliverables at kickoff so the package arrives in a form your engineering or GIS team can load without rework.

## Related reading

- [Pre-construction processSite walks, locates and permit coordination before mobilization.](https://strillacommunications.com/about/our-process/pre-construction)
- [During constructionField reporting and communication while the crew is working.](https://strillacommunications.com/about/our-process/during-construction)
- [Post-construction and closeoutRestoration, records and handover at the end of a job.](https://strillacommunications.com/about/our-process/post-construction-and-closeout)
- [Project readiness checklistItems to confirm before a crew is scheduled.](https://strillacommunications.com/resources/checklists/project-readiness-checklist)
- [Pullback operationsHow conduit and cable are pulled through a reamed bore.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/directional-drilling/pullback-operations)
- [Daily production reportingWhat a daily report covers on active days.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/supporting-services/daily-production-reporting)
- [How directional drilling worksThe drilling method explained from pilot bore to pullback.](https://strillacommunications.com/resources/guides/how-directional-drilling-works)

## Frequently Asked Questions

**How long does a typical directional bore take?**: A single road or driveway crossing is often a same day operation once the crew is set up, covering pilot, ream, and pullback. Longer or deeper bores, congested crossings, and difficult ground take longer. The schedule driver on most projects is not drilling time. It is locates, permits, material, and site access, all of which precede the crew.

**Do I need to be on site while the work happens?**: No, but someone with decision authority should be reachable. Field conditions occasionally differ from the plan, and a fast decision keeps the crew productive instead of standing by. A single point of contact on each side, plus a daily production report, covers most projects without requiring anyone to stand at the pit all day.

**Who files the Sunshine 811 ticket?**: Whoever is excavating must hold a valid ticket for that work. On most projects the contractor files for its own excavation while the owner or general contractor coordinates separate tickets for other trades. Agree this in writing before mobilization and confirm marks are current on the day the crew arrives, because tickets expire on a defined schedule.

**What happens if an existing utility is damaged?**: Work stops immediately, the facility owner and 811 are notified, the area is made safe, and the incident is documented. Prevention is the real answer: a valid ticket, current marks, potholing at every crossing along the bore path, and a verified profile before drilling. Skipping potholing is a common root cause of a strike.

**What is included in the closeout package?**: Typically as built route documentation, bore records, photo documentation of pits and utility exposures, conduit verification results, tracer wire notes, handhole and vault locations, and splice and test records where fiber work was in scope. The format is set by the owner, so agree on the required deliverables before the project starts rather than at the end.

**How much yard and pavement damage should I expect?**: Planned disturbance is limited to the entry and exit pits plus any potholes along the bore path. Those are backfilled, compacted, and restored to the pre existing condition: pavement patched to the agency standard, sod replaced, irrigation repaired. Anything beyond that footprint should be identified in advance rather than discovered at closeout.

**Can drilling continue in the rain?**: Usually yes. Work pauses for lightning in the work zone, standing water in the pits, and ground that will not carry equipment safely. Florida afternoon storms typically cost hours rather than days. Sustained rain that saturates access roads and staging areas is the condition that actually pushes a schedule to another day.

**Will my driveway or business access be blocked during the bore?**: Usually only briefly. Planned disturbance is limited to the entry and exit pits, and the drill and support equipment concentrate on the entry side. Where the work zone crosses a driveway or business entrance, access is coordinated in advance and kept open wherever the layout allows. Expect notice before the crew arrives and a contact to call. Any closure longer than a short window should be agreed at the site walk.

## Related services

- [Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD)HDD crews for fiber and utility conduit across Volusia County and Central Florida. Pilot bore, reaming, and pullback with logged depth and as-built records.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/directional-drilling/horizontal-directional-drilling)
- [Bore Path PlanningBore path planning for Florida HDD projects: alignment, depth profile, entry and exit points, utility clearance, and bend radius checked before mobilizing.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/directional-drilling/bore-path-planning)
- [Pullback OperationsControlled pullback of HDPE conduit, multi-duct, and cable on Florida bores. Monitored tension, swab passes, and proofing before the pits are closed.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/directional-drilling/pullback-operations)
- [Conduit VerificationConduit verification in Central Florida: mandrel proofing, rodding, camera inspection, obstruction location, and a pass record before fiber goes in.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/conduit-installation/conduit-verification)
- [As-Built DocumentationAccurate as-built records captured in the field during construction, not reconstructed afterward. Coordinates, depths, photos and reconciled footage.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/supporting-services/as-built-documentation)
- [Daily Production ReportingEnd of day reports covering production, next day plan, field conditions and blockers, so progress is visible without anyone having to chase it.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/supporting-services/daily-production-reporting)

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Source: https://strillacommunications.com/resources/what-to-expect-on-a-project