Soil penetration modeling in microtunneling projects

As the need for utility service line replacement or repairs with minimum disruption to the surface have increased, so has the demand for trenchless excavation methods, in particular, microtunneling. Microtunneling is a trenchless technique that is used to install new pipelines. Microtunneling can be applied in gravity and pressure lines, permanent ducts for cables, and crossings under rails or roads. When bidding a microtunneling project, the main concern of microtunneling contractors is predicting the underground behavior of the machine. In other words, the productivity of microtunneling is the key to profit in microtunneling projects. Contractors generally predict approximate productivity based on experience, which risks cost estimation accuracy for microtunneling projects. Contractors lack a productivity model that helps them to predict driving time. This paper is a part of a series of papers covering the productivity of microtunneling projects. This paper focuses on predicting the penetration time of the microtunneling machine.