Contracted Via: Bond Brothers
Started: August 2018.
Completed: March 2021 (Numerous phases)
Scope:
A 1984, General, six wheel drive, retired Military Tractor from Carson Corporation’s fleet made short work of mud, ice and access road elevation in Liberty Township, Pennsylvania this winter. The Hillis Group, working for UGI, contracted with Carson Corporation to horizontally directional drill 1,600 lf of 8” gas pipe. Carson PM, Cameron Segura skipped a ream pass with a 12” Tri-Cone rock bit and pulled pipe in quick fashion. Proper equipment and resources enabled Carson’s crew to complete another project on time and on budget.
Installation Details and Project Summary
Owner: UGI Energy Services, Bethlehem, PA
Project: Ingalls 710 Project
Location: Liberty Township, PA
General Contractor: The Hillis Group, Easton, PA
HDD Contractor: Carson Corporation, Lafayette, NJ
Project Engineer: STV Engineers, Inc., Douglasville, PA
HDD Detail/ Pipe Size/Length installed: 1,583 lf of 8” steel gas pipe
Pipe Supplier: By Owner
Cameron Segura – Project Forman, Carson Corporation:
“Carson Corporation made equipment access to this project possible with our specialized fleet”.
Bill Anderson – Superintendent, The Hillis Group: “The drill rig, vac truck and recycling trailers all arrived on schedule as promised. We were able to complete tie-ins ahead of schedule because Carson finished within schedule.”
Carson Corporation Contact Information:
Bob Carson-VP of Business Development
(201) 230-4686,
[email protected]
Before Hurricane Sandy hit the New York coastline in 2012, the residents of Shelter Island, an idyllic community at the easternmost tip of Long Island, felt that their power infrastructure was well protected. At the time, Shelter Island had three circuits providing power – one of which was known to be inadequate but provided some back up capability at peak power use. Sandy destroyed one of the two remaining circuits and left the island with no adequate back up circuit. This was especially problematic in the summer months when demand was at its peak.
Long Island Power Authority acted quickly to resolve the issue and obtained the funding and permissions to replace the line under the Peconic River and Pipers Cove using horizontal directional drilling (HDD) methods. The HDD process would be used to install three conduits under the water, each of 3,300 feet long, from Southold to Shelter Island. However, this initial installation was a failure. The original drilling contractor used a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) conduit and attempted to install all three conduits in a bundle in the same 36-inch bore hole which got stuck during the installation. The HDD had to be abandoned, and the project had to be shut down. A new approach was necessary.
There were delays for several years while the failed installation was dealt with and a new plan was considered. PSEGLI brought in one of the premier drilling contractors in the nation, Carson Corporation, to help them complete the project. Carson partnered with Underground Solutions, makers of Fusible PVC® pipe, to tackle this challenging project. Carson chose to use Fusible PVC® conduit because of its superior safe pull force and strength to weight ratio compared to HDPE. With the cooperation of the power company, Heights Property Owners Corporation (HPOC), Shelter Island Town and the Town of Greenport, drilling began in Fall 2016.
At the recommendation of Carson Corporation, three separate bores were performed instead of a single bundled installation. A single 8-inch diameter Fusible PVC® conduit was installed in each bore, approximately 3,300 feet in length. The bores were drilled from Greenport to Shelter Island, up to 120 feet below water body. Of the three conduits installed, only one currently carries an active circuit, while the other two will provide options for future reliability and capacity expansion projects.
In the end, the second attempt at the project was delivered on time and on budget. Thanks to the experience and diligence of Carson Corporation and the use of Fusible PVC® conduit, Shelter Island has the energy capacity and system resiliency needed for the future.
“It was a flawless execution…You clearly put the right resources behind this.” Stella Lagudis, General Manager, HPOC June 2018 article in the Shelter Island Reporter
“In early meetings with PSEGLI, Carson Corporation was determined to reduce the risk. In order to accomplish this, we chose to drill three separate bore holes and used 8-inch Fusible PVC® pipe due to the safe pull force available and calculated pull force needed to ensure a successful drill.”
Bob Carson, VP Business Development Carson Corporation
Owner: PSEGLI
Project: Shelter Island Electrical Conduit Project
Location: Shelter Island, NY
Pipe: (3) 3,300 lf of 8 in DR14 fPVC conduit
HDD Contractor: Carson Corporation, Lafayette, NJ
Pump Station No. 2 provides service to 25% of the sewer customers on the western side of Westport, CT. Carson Corporation was hired to replace the pipe to avoid catastrophic environmental impacts of a force main break under the river. Carson faced a range of technical challenges: underground and overhead utilities, potential settlement of nearby buildings and I-95 bridge foundation, subsurface conditions, potential inadvertent returns and the HDD alignment design.
A case study of the successful project was written by Bryan H. Thompson, WPCA Collection System Supervisor for the Town of Westport, for the fall publication of NASTT-NE, the Northeast Journal of Trenchless Technology Practices. A PDF of the case study can be downloaded from the link below.
NJ Land Solar LLC, recently completed a dynamic project in Burlington County, NJ to provide solar power to McGuire Air Force Base. Carson Corporation was awarded this project in Burlington County, NJ in March of 2018. All Earth Work, Horizontal Directional Drilling, Open Cut and Utility work was completed by October, 2018. This project turned out to be no easy task with regulatory snafus and soggy ground conditions. Carson’s versatility became evident as the open cut design failed permit approval and the wetlands delineation increased. A plan to avoid permitting obstacles was developed by Carson Corporation and the Project Engineer. HDD rigs were mobilized and drilling began thus avoiding these new wetland obstacles. A wet summer slowed progress on excavating, transferring and grading material to level the 40 acre site. Carson Corporation’s Means, Methods and Project Management combined to get the Solar Field and Power Transfer Lines completed on time and on budget.
Installation Details and Project Summary
Owner: New Jersey Resources Company – NJR
Project: New Jersey Land Solar, LLC.
Location: Wrightstown, Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey and McGuire Air Force Base.
General Contractor: Miller Brothers Solar, Conshohocken, Pa.
Project Engineer: Michael R. Thomas, PE, T&M Associates, Franklin Park, NJ.
Civil, Utility and HDD Contractor: Carson Corporation, Lafayette, NJ.
Earthwork: 70,000 cubic yards.
Utility Work: 70 Manholes, 3500 LF of Duct Bank, 4.2 miles of Open Cut Pipeline.
HDD Detail & Pipe Size/Length: 6021 LF of (4) 2”, (2) 5”, (2) 6” HDPE bundled in 8 separate HDDs.
Pipe Supplier: By Owner.
Chris Simpson – Project Manager Carson Corporation:
“New Jersey Land Solar Project was significant to me because it showcases many of Carson Corporation’s capabilities while satisfying our clients. Carson has found a niche in HDD/Utility/Civil projects. Enlisting one contractor that can self-perform all phases of a project keeps our clientele coming back!”
Carson Corporation Contact Information:
Bob Carson-VP of Business Development
(201) 230-4686,
[email protected]
November 9, 2017
The Carson Corporation
Business View Magazine interviews Dan Carson, Founder of the Carson Corp., as part of our focus on best practices of American businesses.
If you ask Dan Carson, founder of Carson Corporation, for a company profile, he will humbly begin with “I was fresh out of college and went and bought a Caterpillar back hoe. It was me, myself and I.” It takes some prying to discover that the firm’s work now spreads across several east and gulf coast states, and that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Carson Corporation, a civil construction and directional drilling firm based in Lafayette, New Jersey.
Over the past three decades, Dan Carson has invested in tools and technologies and has navigated through booms and busts, political vacillation, and industry advances. His investments have proved sound, as the Carson Corporation now boasts a large fleet of more than 75 staff-operated pieces of heavy equipment and vehicles. In fact, the Carson Corporation owns and operates one of the largest directional drill rigs on the East Coast, along with over a dozen other drills and boring machinery.
Directional drilling is the practice of drilling wells at multiple angles, not just vertically. Directional drilling has been used in the oil and gas industry since the 1920s to better reach and produce oil and gas reserves. It has also become a tool for utility installations, directional boring, and surface in seams (SIS), used in methane extraction. The Carson Corporation has successfully drilled and installed miles of trenchless piping throughout the country beneath rivers, lakes, and sensitive wetlands.
Further, the firm offers civil construction services, supplying its own fleet of earth moving equipment and a full staff dedicated to site development. Services include: demolition and earthwork; storm, sewer, and water systems; site lighting and electric; value engineering; construction budgeting; and construction management, among others. Feasibility studies and earthwork analysis are also performed in-house, allowing the firm to provide clients streamlined projects and timely outcomes.
The Carson Corporation’s dual service model provides client diversity as well as a leg up on the competition. For companies engaged in directional drilling, “we can handle the directional drill aspect of the job, as well as the associated civil work, which is a little rare in the directional drilling business,” Carson explains. “A lot of times, the general contractor will hire the drilling contractor. But in a number of projects, we are the ‘prime contractor.’ That really differentiates us from the other companies, who are solely drill contractors.”
With a core focus on the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, the company has secured some of the region’s biggest landmarks and organizations as clients. Recently, the firm upgraded water supply and sewer lines from New Jersey to Liberty Island, New York. The project proceeded alongside the continuous and heavy traffic at the Statue of Liberty. Other recent clients include Atlantic City Electric and its parent company PEPCO Energy Services of New Jersey, as well as Con Edison, Competitive Power Ventures, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, New Jersey Transit, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The company employs approximately 150 individuals, on average, and plans to continue growing through investments in technologies and machinery.
Dan Carson’s knack for company investment can be seen on a timeline. His first investment in a Caterpillar machine in 1987 resulted in residential projects, and then commercial work. Through the 90s, the firm’s focus remained on commercial work and its portfolio grew to a national level alongside the big box store boom. By 2003, he decided diversification was his key to the future. In 2004, he bought the firm’s first maxi-rig, the largest of directional drills, providing over 140,000 pounds of pull.
Thus, the Carson Corporation entered the directional drilling industry. And the firm has been booming alongside its client’s industries, ever since. “We’ve added two more maxi rigs this year for a total of seven,” details Carson. He explains that infrastructure and pipeline work are currently experiencing a boom, which gives rise to the perfect growth opportunity for the company. But, as a builder who has weathered many storms, he is never dependent on the current status. “We’re always exploring new technologies and expect our business to continue to evolve. I’m sure the industry is going to change, including how we do things over the next five to ten years. So we have to be vigilant about that, now.”
Ever alert to those changes, he explains, “The biggest thing that we have to be aware of is the uncertainty. We’re in a boom period for a reason right now. We have to be vigilant of the political winds through the next election period. As far as non-pipeline work, there is a continued investment in infrastructure – especially in the water and electric side. There’s a tremendous amount of electric going in and a push to replace an aging infrastructure and increase reliability. In New Jersey, they’re looking at the reliability of their electrical grid as population centers continue to expand. And we have threats of extreme weather, which we could talk about endlessly.”
And as far as directional drilling work, the firm remains an attentive guardian of the environment it works within. As Carson explains, because some of the firm’s directional drilling clients are in the pipeline industry, “there is a highly vigilant atmosphere. But it’s also highly regulated already. And our attention to detail is no different that any approach we would take with any project. These highly sensitive and exposed projects, when done properly, are not an issue.”
This core philosophy of operating with diligence and care is what keeps the Carson Corporation on top of the contractor roster for clients. Carson describes his company’s ethic: “We finish what we started. What I mean by that is that not every job goes perfectly. But we provide solutions and work with our clients to have a satisfactory result on every project that we do.”
Carson Corporation combines Horizontal Directional Drilling expertise with utility crew’s work ethic to complete the Kearny 69kV Hackensack River HDD Crossing, Vaults, Duct Bank and Conduit Work for PSE&G.
Owner: PSE&G
Installation Details and Project Summary:
Engineer: Mustang Engineering, Houston, TX
Project: 30” Steel Casing, Bundled Conduit on Casing Spacers with Thermal Grout
Location: Kearny and Jersey City, under Hackensack River
General Contractor: Carson Corporation
HDD Contractor: Carson Corporation
Pipe Size: 30” Steel
Installation: Horizontal Directional Drilling
Underground Devices: Custom Casing Spacers
Constellation Group: Thermal Grout
On budget and on schedule is a recurring theme for Carson Corporation. Both critical project components when contracted by a major utility. Carson Corporation strives to satisfy our client base. We did that again…..
John Gilday from PSE&G
Now that the Hackensack River 69kv HDD project is complete I wanted to write to let you know that your crew did an excellent job with what everyone involved agrees was a tough project.
Through each step of this project, from the initial relocation of the underground utilities in the Kearney Peaking Station, handling of the large volumes of groundwater that was encountered, through the installation of the 200’ x 54” conductor barrels at the drill exit and entrance points, the HDD installation of 1800’ of 36” steel casing pipe beneath the Hackensack River, the installation of manholes, the intricate and difficult insertion of the conduit bundle through the casing pipe, right through to the final restoration, Carson’s field crews and leadership team did an excellent job under what at times were difficult conditions. Throughout the project your team was always professional, responsive to any requests and a pleasure to work with.
I wish you and your team continued success and I look forward to working with Carson Corp. in the future
John Gilday – PSEG
UG Construction Specialist
Delivery Projects and Construction- Palisades Division
Carson Corporation Contact:
Bob Carson-VP of Business Development (201) 230-4686, [email protected]
PSEG-LI subcontractor Carson Construction has succeeded where Bortech failed in 2013. The Lafayette, N.J. subcontractor completed pulling the first of three conduits through the piping from Shelter Island to Greenport, working through the night of Dec. 12 to the next morning.
PSEG Director of Communications Jeffrey Weir said it was done “safely and successfully” and while there is still much work to be done, he said he was pleased with the progress to date.
There are still lines that have to be pulled through the conduits, but he was upbeat as was Heights Property Owners Corporation General Manager Stella Lagudis who said she saw the conduit come through on the Greenport side and was feeling optimistic about how the project has been proceeding.
Four years ago, Bortech, a Long Island Power Authority subcontractor, came within a few yards of completing this critical step, but ultimately had to abandon the project when a drill bit broke and couldn’t be removed from the piping.
The project to provide reliable electrical service to Shelter Island got underway in mid-October and has been proceeding smoothly. It is slated to be completed by mid-May 2018, in advance of the tourist season that typically gets underway on Memorial Day weekend.
Originally, there were three lines linking Shelter Island to a substation in Southold, but two failed, leaving a single aged line in place. Another line from the South Fork is stable, but has capability to provide power to only part of the Island.
Since the failure to complete the project in 2013, the Island has had generators in place during peak summer months in the event of a power failure, but that was never a long-term solution.
PSEG had suggested placing a substation on the Island, but locals visited a similar structure in Jamesport and returned to the Island to pronounce it unacceptable because of noise, dirt and general aesthetics. Although PSEG could have gone ahead with the substation idea, company officials preferred to find a solution that wouldn’t rankle residents.
The next step was a PSEG negotiation with Greenport Village that provides the village with a $30,000 easement fee and $1.3 million access fee to allow the cable to run to the Fifth Street Beach area before it connects with the Southold substation. The village also is getting an overhead circuit reinforcement from the Southold substation west of Chapel Lane on Route 25 to Silvermere Road to provide a more rapid return to service in the event its own electric company experiences a power failure.
PSEG has promised to repave Fifth Street in the village, which will be dug up to accommodate lines that are being buried.
Photo caption: Carson Construction employees at the Shelter Island Heights location where a tunnel from Greenport for electric cables broke through last month. (Credit: Julie Lane)
Article Credit: by Julie Lane
Carson Corporation successfully installed 10,800 lf of 4″,6″,10″ & 12″ HDPE pipe by Pipe Bursting and Horizontal Directional Drilling methods on this high profile project. Heavy traffic at the Statue of Liberty required upgraded water supply and sewer lines from the mainland to Liberty Island. Spectacular views were enjoyed by Carson Crews while this job was ongoing.
Installation Details and Project Summary:
Owner: Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority
Engineer: Hatch, Mott and MacDonald – Paul Mourt
Project: Replacement of Water and Sewer Lines to Liberty Island
Location: Upper New York Bay, Jersey City, New Jersey and Liberty Island, New York
General Contractor: Carson Corporation-HDD Contractor, Pipe
Bursting Contractor: Carson Corporation
Pipe Supplier: Waterworks Supply
Pipe Size: 3000′ 4″, 3000′ 10″, 2400′ 6″, 2400′ 12″ HDPE DIPS.
Installation: Horizontal Directional Drilling, Pipe Bursting
Carson Corporation Contact:
Bob Carson-VP of Business Development (201) 230-4686, [email protected]
September, 2016
Hoboken Train Crash
The National Transportation Safety Board had this to say about the Hoboken Train Crash: “The train had an engine pushing three cars and was at the end of a 17-stop route that had begun more than an hour earlier in Spring Valley, New York. The Hoboken hub primarily serves the lower Manhattan commuter market.” What people are not often thinking about after such a tragic event is how can NJ Transit and the people of New York and New Jersey begin to recover.
Click here for CNN news coverage
NJ Transit made the right call when they contacted “Preferred Contractor” Hall Construction to initiate immediate clean up procedures. Hall Construction reached out to Carson Corporation and our response was immediate. “Twelve hours after Hall contacted us we were on site and five hours later we commenced clean up operations 24 hours a day for 7 straight days”, Project Manager Brian McCracken stated. Carson Corporation had Supervisors, Equipment, Operators and Laborers onsite and operational by noon the day following the crash. Work consisted of extracting twisted beams and debris while mindful of asbestos clean up and building integrity.
“12 hour shifts can be taxing on work crews but our guys really stepped up recognizing the importance and critical nature of this project, commented Dan Carson, Owner and President of Carson Corporation. Hall Construction’s Peter Egan was pleased with “Carson’s responsiveness, careful attention to detail, and the professional manner in which they handled a very difficult demolition under intense scrutiny of the regulatory and public eye”.
Project Summary:
Owner: New Jersey Transit – Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Project: Hoboken Train Crash Clean Up
General Contractor: Hall Construction Co., Inc., Farmingdale NJ
Civil Contractor: Carson Corporation, Lafayette, NJ
Carson Corporation Contact: Bob Carson-VP of Business Development (201) 230-4686, [email protected]