tunnel under sidewalk ideals

[justin1795]

Ive been working on making a tunnel under my sidewalk. Its clay and I've been messing with it for a while now. I've tried drilling a hole and using the hose. I finally got 1/2 pipe threw but having a hard time getting it any bigger. To make matters worse its clay

 

[Astomore]

Try using a pressure washer if you can get your hands on one. Gets messy fast, but will get the job done. Its how we get fiber out to the prefabs at the local school district with out having to tear up and fix a bunch of sidewalk.

 

[ratdoggy]

It's a ***** with clay. I did it with some pipe and a sledge. To make it bigger do what he said with a pressure washer

 

[steel 35]

Put this on a piece of PVC the size it requires and put it in the size you want pushed through they work very well; I pushed one 17' it sucked but came through right where I wanted it.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Walkway-Tunnel-Kit-53333/100127846

 

[Ben Secor]

I like the pressure washer idea, but try pushing a pvc pipe through as you are pressure blasting. Just put the wand through the pipe first, feed the pipe as you are blasting the hole, and the waste will exit through the pipe as you move forward.

 

[CNGsaves]

Dig the giant hole on one side and knock a pipe through. Hole on other side doesn't have to be as big, just deep enough for exit of pipe. This worked for me but depth was pretty shallow as only for low voltage lights, and there was mostly loose sand from the original pour.

I'd recommend you combine the knock pipe, with the power washer method into a hybrid. Install couple T's on end of pipe near where you're banging with hammer. Put cap on end of pipe where you'll hit it. In first T hole, connect flexible hose that will get fed from pressure washer (inflow). In second T hole, connect hose that will be your dig material (outflow). This will keep the process pretty clean and you can keep pressure on pipe in hole and let pressure washer do the work and knock with hammer to help it along.

Pull pipe after it's gone a ways if you need to add extension to make it all the way under sidewalk.

Depending on what all reason you're going under sidewalk, you might want to knock through a "spare" pipe as well for other reasons. That's what I did as once I had that giant hole, I decided to add low flow watering system for flower bed in addition to the low voltage lights. Thus, one pipe had the low voltage wire for lights, and other had watering hose.

 

[Zeke]

Beat a steel pipe through and cut off the damaged end(s). I don't know what you're running under the walk but they have push on fittings for just about every type of dissimilar materials connection you can imagine.

http://www.tycowaterworks.com/products-pushfit.html

 

[Train]

I just had to find my gas line and phone line to the shop so that I could start digging a trench that will run across them. The gas line was at 3 feet. I took the wand from my pressure washer and taped it to the wand on my Shop vac. I l let the tip of the PW stick out about an inch longer that the wand of the Shop Vac. Took about 5 minutes with no mess, and that included dumping the Shop Vac out twice.

 

[OGJordan]

*ideas

 

[Autorotica]

What about using an air chisel on the end of the pipe to beat it thru?

Chris

 

[cdestuck]

I did this by getting a piece of 4'' schedule 40 pipe and cut the one end of it at a shape angle. I kept a piece of 2 x 4 on the other end and hit it with a sledge. after a number f hits, I would twist the pipe and go back to hitting. As the clay goes into the pipe, pull out the pipe once and a while to empty. Not super fast but it worked for me.

 

[justin1795]

Thank for the feedback will give it another shot

 

[justin1795]

The tunnel kit didn't do much for me. So far the only thing working is pounding pipes in a few inches then cleaning them out and repeat

 

[theoldwizard1]

Cut. Dig. Lay conduit. Replace dirt. New cement.

It sounds like a lot more work, but it really is not. Making your hole bigger will likely cause the concrete to fail anyway.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I used a spud bar to dig most of this out.

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

I know this is an old thread but i have a similar project.

New well was drilled last Friday, new supply line & electrical to go in the week of the 11th.

I have a 10' wide sidewalk that is tight to the house foundation (2' thick field stone foundation / old brick house) that I need to go under, to where existing well line goes. However that line does not have electrical, old well pit has pressure switch at well head.

New set up will have submersible with pressure switch at the bladder tank in the basement & submersible in the well with pit-less adapter....YIPPEE no more freezing up in the pit

I have very sandy soils and have a stick of 2" schedule 40 conduit left over from a previous project. Hoping I can drive it from basement to trench with success.

Here is the plan:
A) dig trench outside of sidewalk
B) remove plumbing from existing set up in basement (to clear room for conduit / sledge in basement)
C) sharpen the end of the 2" conduit
D) drive through existing hole in foundation (praying it is big enough) existing line is 1 1/4" poly (I will fab up a drive cap so not to damage end of conduit too much, but will have another stick to make up any that needs to be replaced)
E) Since I am going from basement out I hope to do this dry, with the drive and pull method to clean out sand.
F) Once Set. seal exterior of conduit with hydraulic cement (was never done with existing 1 1/4" line)
G) run new 1" poly with electrical through the 2" conduit from well to pressure tank
H) seal inside (basement end) & outside (trench end) conduit with water tight expanding sealant
(just ordered this stuff, looks impressive http://www.polywater.com/ductseal.html)

Fill hole and have sand free water from new well

9 year battle will be over (since we bought property) keeping old well running and sand out of house fixtures

 

[sands35]

Put this on a piece of PVC the size it requires and put it in the size you want pushed through they work very well; I pushed one 17' it sucked but came through right where I wanted it.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Walkway-Tunnel-Kit-53333/100127846

The easiest way is to drill it hydraulically.

Don't really need to buy this part, but it will work.

I put a short bit of copper I had laying around on the end of a PVC pipe and bashed it down flattish so it had a good spray pattern. Capping the end of a pvc pipe and drilling ~3-5 small holes will also work. Appropriate hose fittings on the other end. Then just rammed it under the sidwalk. Only ugly part is you are going to get wet and muddy. But it's not hard to do.

Once you punch through, let the trench dry a bit them put in your conduit. Use another rod or 2x2 or something to pack the hole again with dirt.

However, to prevent issues with water leaking into the basement, you really should use a riser. Since it sounds like you don't have any dirt between the walk and the foundation, you should probably use a metal conduit riser, not PVC. Personally, I'd rather cut out a ~2'x2' square in the concrete walk rather than punch through your foundation wall below grade. Messing around with an old field stone foundation is asking for trouble. Your planned 2" hole can turn into a 2' hole pretty quick.

You can rent concrete hole drills for not much. They can go through rock as well as concrete.

Either way you are goinng to do concrete / stone work, so I'd pick the method that will elminiate issues down the road. The conduit can be tight against the foundation, so you won't really have any issues with loosing space.

Putting in a riser will also make changes to the wires easy if that is ever needed.

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

Running a 1" water line & power to well so it has to be 3'+ down, no way to get around going through the foundation.

Since I know where the hole is in the basement and can not "steer" the pipe it will have to be driven from the basement, I will try the dry method first and if it is not successful then try the wet method. I understand the wet method is probably easier, but cleanup would be huge to do that from the basement.

 

[My Old Tools]

I did mine with a water hose, brass spray nozzle, and a piece of PVC. Put the spray nozzle on the hose and adjust for a tight pattern. Duct tape the hose to the PVC pipe to make it stiff. Dig a hold beside the sidewalk deep enough to get under the concrete. Stick the nozzle in and start pushing the PVC. Guaranteed it will eat its way through.

 

[bobmulry]

Hi,

I always just took a length (3 or 4 feet or as needed) of 1" iron pipe (not conduit or PVC) and hammered 1 end almost closed.......

Screwed a "T" on the other end. Added a 6" ****** and pipe cap that went in line with the first pipe.......

Take 12" ****** and screw it into the "T" 90 degrees from the first pipe and put a water hose connector on the end....

Place this in the hole and hit the cap with a large hammer while you have water running (at full pressure) into the pipe. You can hit and twist as you like because it's pretty easy.....

Usually the only time that you would use the hammer is get past a rock or root....

Plus if space is limited, a shorter length of pipe can be used and removed to have additional lengths screwed on.....

I have used this procedure for years and never had it fail.....

With a 1" pipe and the water running you end up with about a 2" plus hole, depending on soil....

Good luck,
Bob

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

I do have a couple pieces of 1 1/4" galvanized drive pipe for a well point if needed I will use it to create the hole with a hose & some fittings.

 

[kbs2244]

Research "borzit"
You may be able to rent one.

 

[WhiffySpark]

Sidewalk sleever. You can use a larger pipe with a boring tip from HD. You seal it and push it through. But IMO it leaves voids that can make the concrete crack. That's why we use a sleever

 

[gazza]

I had to drill a hole through a concrete footing about 3 ft long, made up a timber box to hold/slide a cheap hammer drill and used lengths of timber as levers to push the drill through, worked well

 

[drmarkr]

I had to drill a hole through a concrete footing about 3 ft long, made up a timber box to hold/slide a cheap hammer drill and used lengths of timber as levers to push the drill through, worked well

I'm filing that one away in my head......nice rig up....!

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

I like the looks of the Borzit tool, I will call the local rental place today to see if they have one. If not I will go the simple drive pipe with flush water route. Being down 3' I am not concerned about annular space around the conduit, just need to get the 2" conduit installed so the well crew doesn't have to do it, saves me some good $ if I can find the time to do it.

Should be able to give it a go next Monday.

 

[rburke65]

Back hoe..... Oops. Sorry.

 

[TractorJeff]

Its sandy soil, I'd be worried about tunnel collapse if I was pulling pipe back out to clean. All the posts so far are good ideas!
Me?
I'd rent a diamond core drill to go through the basement wall. Nice clean straight cut.
Then depending on the sand/soil ratio, run my boring device through the sleeve I am burying.
It is going to be open at the well hole so you should be able to flush out the sleeve pipe pretty easy.
All ideas depend on actual conditions though!

 

[ozyborn]

I just cut and pulled up that section sidewalk. Cut along the crack seams. Then Dug my trench. Used 4: pvc pipe. Let laid down the good base and tamped it down. Placed sidewalk back. If it broke no big deal. Just a sidewalk. Pour a new section.

 

[bdamico]

pressure washer is how i did it

 

[LXCam]

I have always had great luck with just a pvc cap, a hacksaw slit in it, a hose adapter on the other side and twisting it while I push. Ya it's messy, but unless I've been in rocky soil it always works.

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

Well the hydro system I rigged up worked AWESOME, just one problem, after two attempts to hit the hole in the basement wall I gave up. Yes 10' sidewalk with 18" thick field stone foundation wall with 3" hole in it is hard to hit.

Now trying to push & pull (to empty) the conduit from the basement dry. Almost all the way to my trench / hole on the outside of sidewalk. Just alot more muscle required this way.

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

2" conduit installed 42" below grade

10' of Sidewalk + 18" of field stone foundation / basement wall (I was able to utilize the existing hole in the foundation from the current well line, saved me hours of work) [rental place did not have a core drill large enough or a diamond setup to get through the 18" wall either]

ended up cutting conduit into 5' sections (due to space limitations in basement) leading edge was sharpened to push through sand easier then tapped and pulled back to empty for about 8' of length. At that point I could not pull it back anymore so I continued to drive it through. Once through and into my trench on outside I used a 1" piece of pipe to push the existing 5' conduit pieces into trench as the end one was packed full of soil and replaced through the existing hole a fresh piece of conduit.
<a href="http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/nwohiochevyguy/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/204011CA-0E68-46E6-B956-306A171A312F_zps6ldbt2hq.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/nwohiochevyguy/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/204011CA-0E68-46E6-B956-306A171A312F_zps6ldbt2hq.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 204011CA-0E68-46E6-B956-306A171A312F_zps6ldbt2hq.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/nwohiochevyguy/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/6EAE3E85-D2BA-48C8-98C6-413ED5FCEFA9_zpssy42p8a8.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/nwohiochevyguy/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/6EAE3E85-D2BA-48C8-98C6-413ED5FCEFA9_zpssy42p8a8.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6EAE3E85-D2BA-48C8-98C6-413ED5FCEFA9_zpssy42p8a8.jpg"/></a>

All in all it went smoothly however this desk jockey is sore today from the digging and swinging my 2lb hammer.