It can be intimidating to stare down a narrow city street, knowing there’s a gas leak somewhere between the next two junctions. Your crew needs to find and fix it quickly, but that can be a hard, backbreaking task. Traditionally, you are faced with one of two options. Use equipment like a backhoe to dig up the entire area resulting in a significant amount of added time, cost and disruption to the neighborhood, not to mention difficulty maneuvering into some tight areas. Or use handheld drills and jackhammers to determine the precise location of the leak. This process is strenuous for operators and an injury risk for your company. Vibrations from those machines quickly fatigue the operator, impacting overall productivity and can cause chronic injuries. And their bulky size makes them hard for operators to maneuver in a single traffic lane or between obstacles.
But there is an easier and more efficient way to precisely pinpoint leaks without the backbreaking work. Frame-mounted drills like the UTL20 from E-Z Drill allow contractors to quickly find and repair gas leaks with the least amount of impact to the worksite and operators. Here are the top three benefits of this method.
1. Easy maneuverability: The easier it is to move the drill, the faster crews can find the gas leak. Jackhammers weigh about 60 pounds, which can feel more like a ton after using it to bust concrete for several hours. With frame-mounted rock drills, operators can simply pull or push them into position on pneumatic tires. The small size also allows for easy transportation from site to site, or from one side of a long stretch of the road to the other. Operators can easily transport the drill in the back of a standard pickup truck.
2. Small footprint: Being mindful of the amount of space you have on a worksite is critical, especially if the leak occurs in a high-traffic area. Frame-mounted rock drills are compact, with just a 29-inch wheelbase. Because minimal operating space is needed, it virtually eliminates the hassle of maneuvering carrier-mounted drills on narrow streets around cars, equipment and other workers.
3. Ergonomics: Frame-mounted rock drills eliminate the repetitive strain injuries caused by vibrations with jackhammers. And, there is no more back strain from stooping over the unit. The frames hold the unit in place and transmit vibrations to the frame rather than the operator. If the bit gets stuck while drilling, operators can easily flip a lever and the drill backs the bit out of the hole while also absorbing any jerking motion. But be warned. Not all frame-mounted drills are the same. The best solution is one that allows the operator to engage the drill and step back away from dust and vibration. Some competitive units on the market require the operator to hold the controls the entire time the drill is working, continuing to expose workers to vibration.
Locating and repairing gas leaks doesn’t have to be a strenuous process. Whether your crew drills five, 30 or hundreds of holes, frame-mounted vertical drills are the solution for gas leak dilemmas. They easily and precisely pinpoint leaks, for fast, safe and effective utility service. Tell us how EZ it was for you using #MyEZJob.
