Directional Drilling and the Juan de Fuca Cable Project

The Juan de Fuca Cable Project would use a technique called horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to minimize impact to sensitive nearshore habitat and to avoid important archaeological or cultural resources.  Sea Breeze has designed a drill path taking into consideration geology and archaeological resources in the area.

 The directional drill would bore a hole underneath the nearshore and intertidal zones, drilling through soil and/or bedrock. The drill exit would be about 600m offshore from the drilling site.  Directional drilling uses a precision-guided directional system to bore a hole through soil or rock

HDD & the Environment

HDD technology and associated environmental management practices have been designed to reduce environmental impact.

• The entire process can have a very small environmental footprint, limited only to the drill platform site, the borehole, and the drill exit area. This is largely a temporary footprint related to construction.
• Noise suppressors have been used with positive results to minimize community impact during construction.
• A qualified environmental monitor would be present during construction to ensure environmental commitments made by Sea Breeze are met.

How is it performed?

A computerized guidance system using internal hydraulics steers the drill bit along a pre-determined path. The drill bit is steered along a pre-determined path using internal hydraulics and a computerized guidance system. The drilling equipment is mounted on a platform that can be located on a relatively small area of land.  The diameter of the hole made by the drill typically ranges from 20 to 50 cm. Once the bore hole is completed the cable can then be pulled up through the hole from the drill exit on the ocean floor.