Cable installation cut or drill driveway?

[Rich Chambers]

Hi folks;

Not sure how to word the thread title, or if this is too generic to post in Rogers...

Bell destroyed my cable while repairing our neighbours phone line, and Rogers very quickly came to reinstall. My house is exactly half-way between the green boxes. The techician realized that reconnecting to where it was before was not a good answer as the green box was full and I was on a splitter. The green box in the other direction had a free connection.

To access that box they have to cut between the sidewalk and pavement of my neighour's driveway, and he has refused permission. Rogers will now drill under his driveway.

I'm OK with either, but wouldn't drilling actually cause more of a mess?

Are there any other concerns that I haven't thought about?

Regards, Rich

[jvincent]

Originally Posted by Rich Chambers

I'm OK with either, but wouldn't drilling actually cause more of a mess?

Are there any other concerns that I haven't thought about?

Assuming they use the same kind of machine that is used to install natural gas, no issue.

It's a flexible drill which goes down and then turns and goes sideways. There will be debris at either end of the tunnel, but other than that it should be fine.

I'll assume they will use a properly sealed cable, in which case there should be no issues with the cable degrading, or that it will be in a conduit.

[JoeSoap]

Originally Posted by jvincent

There will be debris at either end of the tunnel, but other than that it should be fine.

I agree as I saw Rogers (or Bell) do this to my driveway. They also do this to go under sidewalks.

[Rich Chambers]

Thanks folks;

One other thing: the Rogers fellow said that cutting was preferable to drilling because the cut allowed the driveway some freedom to expand/contract since it wasn't directly against the concrete sidewalk. Similar to why curbs have spacers every so many feet.

This meant that over time the driveway would show less damage.

Any thoughts?

Rich

[57]

I don't think the hole they drill under the driveway is big enough to cause a problem with the driveway. I probably would have also voted against the "cut", but it all depends on the circumstances.

[dc]

They will need to open a receiving pit (maybe 5'x3') on one side of the driveway. They will then send the bore in on the other side of the driveway drilling a pilot hole to the receiving pit. Once the bore head reaches the receiving pit, they'll attach a reamer and connect the end of a HDPE pipe. They'll then proceed to pull the reamer and pipe back through the pilot hole. The cable(s) can then be pulled through the pipe.

[Paolo]

do u really want rogers techs to mess up your lawn? last time they did that, our grass never grew back properly, id rather have them drill a tiny slice on the edge of the driveway on the avenue side of the driveway next to the sidewalk, and patch it in with asfault.

[frankw]

When they did mine, they used a water drill. Sinks it into the ground at a low angle on one side of the driveway and the machine just pushes a 1 inch pipe with a weird looking head on it through the ground and it pops up the other side where they want it. It also turns shallow corners and climbs under/over big rocks as needed. One fellow followed the head with an oversized handwand that show a picture somewhat like radar or ultrascan on a small screen and it tells you exactly how deep the head is and where it is pointed. When it popped up the other end, they attached a length of burial grade cable and pulled the drill pipe back out and the cable followed. Took 20 minutes tops. Total damage to lawn ,virtually zero. They lifted a 1 square foot of sod at the entry point and put it back after. They did have to borrow my lawn hose though since the head uses water pressure to eat its way through the ground.

[Paolo]

dont forget, rogers hardly does digging/cable burrial anymore, its all contracted out now. The people who the op was talking about might have been Dependable IT / Cancable.