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Underground utility installation remains a bright spot in the current economic slowdown. There is a lot of fiber optic line still being installed, and many electric companies continue to bury electric power lines.

But you need the right equipment to compete, and over the last few years that has increasingly meant horizontal directional drills. While trenchers and cable plows still have advantages in specific applications, an increasingly congested network of existing utilities favors directional drilling.

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St. Cloud, MN-based Dig America Utility Contracting has 20 years of experience, specializing in telephone, fiber optic and electric utility installation. "We normally have four or five crews going on different projects at one time," says Rich Wieneke, project manager. The company owns Astec and Vermeer directional drills, as well as Case backhoe-loaders.

Due to the nature of its projects, Dig America doesn't do much trenching anymore. "Most of the areas are now directional drill areas," notes Wieneke. "There are a lot of areas where you have two telephone companies, you have cable television and gas. "By the time you do all of your potholing and try to get your cables underneath everything, it is easier to directional drill, pull back your pipe and pull your cable through it. There is so much time savings, it is unbelievable."

For example, one client wanted to place underground electric line. "You have sprinkler lines, you have gas lines to barbecue grills and electric lines going to garages," says Wieneke. "You directional drill and you are underneath all of that."