A DISCUSSION OF FACTORS THAT AFFECT HYDRAULIC FRACTURINGDURING HORIZONTAL DIRECTIONAL DRILLING (HDD)

摘要

Unpredicted hydraulic fracturing during horizontal directional drillingrn(HDD) causes loss of time, money, and credibility to HDD contractors and the industryrnas a whole. Reducing the occurrence of unpredicted hydraulic fracturing would increasernthe credibility of the industry and save contractors time and money increasing both thernnumber of HDD projects and the profitability of those projects. While several papersrnpublished over the last few years proposed methods to predict hydraulic fracturing, thernallocation of responsibility for avoiding hydraulic fracturing or the allocation of risk duernto inadvertent returns has not been widely discussed in the literature. Contract documentsrnoften leave the contractor at the mercy of the designer, the owner at the mercy of therncontractor, and everyone at the mercy of unknown ground conditions. Factors that affectrnhydraulic fracturing fall into three categories; those that can be addressed during design,rnthose that result from contractors' means and methods, and those that are unforeseeable.rnThis paper discusses factors that affect hydraulic fracturing and suggests whether eachrnfactor falls within the purview of the designer, the responsibility of the contractor, or isrnan unforeseeable risk retained by the owner.