As Executive Vice President of Eastern U.S. Pipeline Operations for Garney Construction, Jordan Carrier led a team that pushed the limits of trenchless construction by performing a 5,700-foot horizontal directional drill to install a pipeline 42 inch diameter HDPE for a sewage main under a busy shipping channel in Virginia.
The pipe removal operation under the James River between Newport News and Suffolk, Va., lasted more than 24 hours.
Developing the plan was a key part of the team’s efforts while pursuing the design-build contract with the owner, Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), says Carrier. He assembled a team with lead engineer Dewberry and a mix of companies offering experience in marine work, trenchless construction, horizontal directional drilling capability and local knowledge of the waters in which they would be working. Together, Carrier says they refined the proposal into “a buildable, permit-ready project” to present to the client.
“We really announced during the search that we’re ready to go,” he says. “We’re basically at 30 percent design. We have something that can be built.”
Photo courtesy of Garney Construction
Lauren Zuravnsky, director of design and construction for HRSD’s Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow (SWIFT) program, which includes the James River crossing, says she initially had some concerns about risk with the proposal, but Carrier and her team were confident their ability to deliver, which represented an opportunity for cost and schedule savings.
“Not every team we interviewed thought it was possible,” says Zuravnsky. “They had confidence and we decided to rely on their confidence.”
In addition, Carrier has been at the forefront of meeting challenges and reaching a solution, accommodating HRSD’s goals and efforts to build relationships with state officials, he adds.
The successful operation, which took place last May, exemplifies two of Carrier’s key qualities as a leader, according to Matt Foster, Garney’s president of pipeline operations. He calls Carrier a “very focused, very driven” manager who can execute projects, but also has a rare sense of creativity along with a desire to bring innovative ideas to life.
“I don’t see him scared of anything,” Foster says. “I think he’s wise, but he doesn’t mind exploring new things.”
Carrier was responsible for bringing real-time underground utility detection technology manufacturer RodRadar to Garney. In the first six weeks of the first project during which the Carrier team used the RodRadar equipment, Foster says it helped crews avoid hitting eight utility lines that would have each forced costly work stoppages. The contractor is working with the company to develop larger bucket models for excavators.
“Our founder always wanted us to be on the cutting edge of technology,” says Foster. “Jordan has taken us there.”
The James River Crossing is part of a larger package of work for HRSD’s Shipport Treatment Plant Conversion and Transmission Program, which involves rebuilding a treatment plant into a pump station to send water residual for treatment in Suffolk. Garney has several contracts on the show.
The works on the river crossing are still ongoing. Crews are installing pipes in a section of marine trenches outside the shipping channel and also working on the land side of the pipeline.
Looking ahead, Carrier anticipates continuing to push what can be done with trenchless work on future projects as the technology continues to improve.
“We can drill trenchless from the ground, in the case of this project, go 150 feet below the surface of the water and hit exactly where we want 5,700 feet later,” says Carrier. “From a precision and accuracy standpoint, it’s pretty impressive, and I think that’s going to keep getting better.”
