Kill Van Kull HDD

The Kill Van Kull river crossing was one of nine critical crossings bridging crucial gaps on the New York-New Jersey Expansion Project, constructed to deliver needed natural gas supplies to the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, including Manhattan.

The 8,100-foot Kill Van Kull river crossing was considered the longest 30-inch hard rock crossing performed in North America at the time. Encountered on the project were diabase rock ranging from 2-6 on the MOHS hardness scale, and sandstone and siltstone ranging from 1-7 on the MOHS scale.

The product pipe was pulled back in 11 sections over a four-day period to allow for welding, X-ray, coating, and testing of steel sections. The project was an amazing feat, because the energy and force required to start and regain pulling momentum during an HDD pullback is much greater after a long duration stoppage.