Pipe Ramming Information

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Our capabilities

With our expertise, utilizing the pipe ramming technique, we have effectively installed pipelines with diameters up to 1400mm. The materials installed as the casing pipe are always steel, which is later sleeved with another suitable pipe material for the service to be installed. We can achieve lengths of up to 70m in a single linear installation and routes can be installed on a single straight grade and line. We're one of the few trenchless contractors who routinely install gravity drainage pipework, even with tight falls, using our drainage specific pipe ramming methods and tooling, and drainage installations are around half of our workload.​

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• Full in-house design capabilities (Surveys, CAD, Calculations, Geotechnical Design among others)

• Suitable for most ground types, even running sand and cobble, weak rock is also possible

• Single and multi-duct installations (single way, or multi way), within the steel sleeve

• National Highways carriageway crossings, with CD 622 design, if required

• Network Rail Under Track Crossings (UTX), including design to NR/L2/CIV/044

• Main River Crossings, including design to FRA 3 criteria or environmental permit requirements

• Canal Crossings, with design approvals from the Canal & River Trust

• Active runway/ taxiway crossings

• Installations on highly secure sites such as MOD, prisons and nuclear sites

• Pipe Ramming under areas of protection i.e. SSSI, parks, heritage areas, woodlands 

• Installations under buildings, including drilling under active production lines

• Gravity drainage and Rising Main installations, with falls as tight as 1:1000

• Non-tracked installation method, the pipe basically goes straight

• Low Voltage (LV), High Voltage (HV) and Extra High Voltage (EHV) installations, anything up to 400kV

• Chemical pipelines to accommodate all nature of chemicals, no matter how corrosive

• Ground source heating systems to greatly reduce massive heating costs

• Town centre installations, a quicker method than open cut 

• Internal pipework within the steel, can be almost any material

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Considerations

Pipe ramming installations can often be completed by ourselves, in a single length up to 70m, without the need for intermediate excavations. However, when feasible, these excavations can help reduce installation time, risk, and costs. We would always advise clients and principle contractors which approach we deemed most time, risk and cost effective, as well as providing various other route options and other trenchless solutions like Directional Drilling, Auger Boring, or Impact Moling. 

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Benefits

Pipe Ramming offers a number of advantages over traditional open-cut trenching methods, making it one of the preferred solutions for many utility, pipeline, and drainage installations, where directional drilling may not suit:

• Minimal Surface Disruption – Pipe Ramming allows pipelines and ducts to be installed without the need for continuous open trenches, reducing disruption to roads, footpaths, businesses, and residential areas.

• Cost-Effective Solution – By reducing excavation, reinstatement, and traffic management costs, pipe ramming can be a more efficient and economical option.

• Environmentally Friendly – Pipe Ramming helps protect sensitive environments such as rivers, woodlands, wetlands, and heritage areas by avoiding surface disturbance.

• Shallow Installation Depths – Can be installed very shallow, due to the exceptionally low risk of settlement and heave

• Versatile Applications – Suitable for installing water, gas, electricity, telecoms, drainage, rising mains, chemical pipelines, and ground-source heating systems.

• Difficult Short Length Installations – Often suited for tight work areas, or to meet existing chambers which cannot be excavated.

• Accuracy and Control – Pipe Ramming achieves precise alignment and grade, making it ideal for gravity drainage systems with falls as tight as 1:1000.

• Suitable for Challenging Ground Conditions – Can often suit for ground conditions which typically may not suit directional drilling, like gravel, cobble and running sand.

• Safer for High-Risk Sites – Ideal for installations beneath highways, railways, airports, MOD facilities, nuclear sites, and environmentally protected areas, where open-cut excavation isn’t practical or permitted.

• Future-Proof Solutions – Multi-duct installations allow for additional capacity, minimising disruption for future upgrades.

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Basic Pipe Ramming Method

Pipe Ramming is a trenchless installation technique used to install steel pipe casings underground without the need for open-cut trenches, with the casings later sleeved with the required carrier pipe. This method is not as common as directional drilling, but has a high success rate and is used for utility installations, river and road crossings, and environmentally sensitive areas where minimal disruption is required.

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The process typically involves three main stages:

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1. Initial drive of the steel pipe casing

A steel casing, larger than the internal carrier pipe is installed, open faced, via an alignment beam. Pipe sections are loaded onto the beam, hammered in and then added onto, via welding, with further sections which follow behind. As the pipe is driven forwards, the ground material enters the pipe.

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2. Pipe cleaning

Once the forward drive is complete, the ground material within the pipe is augered out, jetted out, or blown out with compressed air, pressurised water or a drill fluid mix.

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3. Carrier pipe installation

With the existing ground material now removed from the pipe, short push fit pipe sections or butt-fusion welded HDPE pipe lengths can then be pushed into the steel pipe casing. Once installed the annulus may be grouted, if required. 

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