Jackson Creek Enterprises L.C.

This is a directional drilling machine used for soil remediation and horizontal wells.

The following quotes and magazine articles demonstrate Jackson Creek's expertise in directional drilling and soil remediation:

From Underground Construction, March 2003

David Wampler, owner of Jackson Creek Enterprises, Allerton, IA, has broad directional drilling experience and serves a variety of markets. The company has been making on-grade sewer installations for about two years.

"Last summer," says Wampler, "we completed directionally drilling 2,970 feet of 9-inch diameter on-grade sewer main adjacent to a city street and then drilled laterals to grade to connect individual houses. Then we went across the street and put in 3.000 feet of 8-inch water main and installed new services-all by directional drilling."

Wampler says that operators must thoroughly understand their equipment and its capabilities, and have exceptional patience.

"One of the keys is starting out right," he says. "You have to start each bore at the correct depth and at the right grade in order to hit the exit point. If you don't start right, you're not going to hit the finish target."

Starting right means devoting meticulous attention to equipment set up.

"Every sonde and transmitter has a certain amount of runout-it's not uncommon to be 2 or 3 percent off," Wampler continues. "That doesn't matter for other types of work, but for on-grade installation it is critical. You need to know what that error is before drilling begins, and the only way to know for sure is to set the sonde on a solid, level surface and check it at every clock face position."
He adds that one or two wraps of duct tape can throw readings off, as well as how the sonde fits into its housing. There may be a change every time batteries are changed.

Drill heads need to be checked, too, he advises.

"They are mass produced and can be off 1, 2, or three percent. You have to know what you've got. If your sonde is off, and your head is off in the same direction, you're going to be off 1 or 2 percent or more all that time. One percent error puts the drill path off a foot every 100 feet, and that isn't good enough for this work.

Another tip for staying straight, says Wampler, is to shorten the bit's "duck bill." That reduces the tendency of the head to wander, helping to keep the pilot hole straighter. It also reduces steering capabilities and limits the ability to resteer if the bore gets off grade.

From Underground Construction, September 2001

"In Iowa, [disposing of directional drilling fluids] has not been an issue for us yet," says David Wampler, owner of Jackson Creek Enterprises in Allerton, IA. "As long as you explain that the fluid is basically composed of dirt and water, it hasn't been a problem. In many of the areas where we work, the soil is so good we don't use additives. But we know that circumstances could change. We were just told that we would have to clean up fluids on a job that literally is in the middle of nowhere."

Understandably, fluid disposal issues can be more difficult for contractors working away from home.

"Fluid disposal is becoming harder in some areas," continues Wampler. "We were on a job in Denver recently where we had to remove fluids, and the one-way drive time to the disposal site was an hour."

From Construction Equipment Magazine, March 2001

"There is a lot of potential for directional drilling in the environmental field," says David Wampler, owner of Jackson Creek Enterprises in Allerton, Iowa. "We just finished a project at a truck stop in Indiana. If vertical wells [the standard practice before HDD equipment came along] had been used, they would have had to shut the business down. There were hundreds of semi-trailer trucks coming in daily, and we put in horizontal wells without interrupting business-they lost no revenue at all during construction. Once environmental engineers become familiar with the process, the advantages are obvious."