Aqua Pennsylvania was founded as the Springfield Water Company on January 4, 1886, when a group of Swarthmore College professors received a charter to supply water to the residents of Springfield Township, Delaware County. From there the Group has grown through acquisition and expansion. Recently Aqua Pennsylvania’s water system in Bensalem was enhanced by Horizontal Directional Drilling under the Neshaminy Creek and under roadways and within restricted right of ways. Carson & Roberts was contracted to complete two drills. The first drill, beneath the Neshaminy Creek was completed by drilling through 20,000 psi rock and a buried debris field.

This debris field played havoc with Carson & Roberts guidance system. Despite this unexpected guidance interference Carson & Roberts was able to stay within the restricted right of way with the pilot hole. Not an easy task. Finally two ream passes and pullback completed this difficult drill. The Turnpike Crossing Drill was next. Similar rock to the first drill was piloted and a single ream pass expedited completion of this drill and pullback. Carson & Roberts was able to turn over completed operational water lines to Aqua, Pa as contracted.

Installation Details and Project Summary

Owner: Aqua Pennsylvania, Byrn Mawr, PA
Consulting Engineer: STV Incorporated, Douglassville, PA
Project: Neshaminy Crossing & PA Turnpike Crossing
Location: Bensalem, PA
HDD Contractor: Carson & Roberts, Lafayette, NJ
Pipe Supplier: Underground Solutions Inc, San Diego, Ca
Pipe Size/Length: Neshaminy Creek Crossing 1000′ of fPVC 24″ / Turnpike Crossing 1600′ of fPVC 16″
Installation: Horizontal Directional Drill
Steering Contractor: Horizontal Technologies, Houston, TX

Carson Corporation Contact:

Bob Carson-VP of Business Development (201) 230-4686,
[email protected]

Dan Carson, President of Carson & Roberts and Operations Manager said, “the 20,000 psi rock required the correct combination of reamer sizes and ream passes. Once the combination was selected and the pilot was complete the drills were straight forward.”Mike Perez supervisor of Carson & Robert’s American Auger DD1100 maxi rig dedicated himself and his crew to getting thru the hard rock. Dan Carson gave high praise to their efforts.