How to Install New Pipes Without Ruining Your Driveway

The biggest fear homeowners have when replacing a water main is the mess. You imagine diggers tearing up your manicured lawn, expensive block paving, or tarmac driveway, leaving a muddy scar that takes months to heal.

At Ardent Utilities, we use trenchless technology known as "moling" to install new pipes with almost zero surface disruption.

What is Moling?

Moling uses a pneumatic device called an impact mole (often nicknamed a "magic mole"). This torpedo-shaped tool is powered by compressed air. It is placed into a small launch pit and literally hammers its way horizontally through the soil, creating a neat tunnel as it goes.

The Process

1. Launch & Reception Pits: Instead of digging a long trench the entire length of your garden (say, 20 meters), we only dig two small holes: one where the pipe starts (e.g., at the boundary) and one where it ends (near the house wall).

2. The Shot: We aim the mole and fire it from one pit to the other. It travels underground, displacing the soil.

3. Pulling the Pipe: Once the tunnel is created, we pull the new blue MDPE water pipe through it.

4. Reinstatement: We only have to fill in the two small pits, leaving the 18 meters of driveway or lawn in between completely untouched.

Benefits of Moling

• Aesthetics: Your garden and driveway remain intact.

• Speed: It is much faster than hand-digging a trench, often allowing us to complete a replacement in just one day.

• Cost-Effective: Less digging means less labor and less waste to take away, often making it cheaper than open-cut trenching.

Limitations

Moling works best in compressible soils like clay or sand. It cannot mole through solid rock or concrete rubble. In those cases, we may have to use traditional methods.

Save Your Landscape

Don't let pipe replacement destroy your garden. Contact Ardent Utilities to see if your property is suitable for moling.