How To Install a Pipeline Under a Railroad

I'm on location to document the installation of a water transmission line below two railroad tracks.

Huge thanks to our project partners!
Owner: Crystal Clear Special Utility District
General Contractor: ACP

Practical Construction is a YouTube series dedicated to the built environment. The show builds on the success of Practical Engineering, one of the largest engineering channels on YouTube, with more than 3 million subscribers and monthly viewership in the millions. Hosted and produced by civil engineer Grady Hillhouse, Practical Construction videos provide thoughtful and engaging explanations of how the world is built (and maintained) around us.

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DISCLAIMER
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This is not engineering advice. Everything here is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Contact an engineer licensed to practice in your area if you need professional advice or services. All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.

SPECIAL THANKS
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This video is sponsored by Brilliant.
Created by Grady Hillhouse
Edited by Wesley Crump
Script Editing by Ralph Crewe
Graphics by Max Moser
Music by Donovan Bullen

[PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Thanks again, Crystal Clear SUD and AGP for having me on site. How are you liking the construction videos?

[Hybris]

I love the fact that you have achieved enough recognition that companies are coming to you for you to cover their project.

[marcberm]

5:26 "Horizontal Earth boring is relatively straight forward" 😂

[JoseLuisOchoaPadilla]

"Of course every contractor knows as soon as he starts making good progress it's gonna rain!"
Truer words have never been spoken... 🤔

[rhouser]

Watching that drill come out exactly where it’s supposed to has to be an incredible feeling for everyone working there!

[jcpt]

I hope more contractors reach out to you to have you do these types of videos. This is the type of stuff missing from our modern education system.

[jcprov]

I’m a Hydrovac operator, I’m glad people get to see what we do in this video. I always have to explain to people not in the industry what I do and they always seem shocked that such a thing exists.

[paulkinzer]

OOH! Practical Construction AND Railroads?! Sweet. As always with your videos, I learned answers to questions I would never even have imagined.

Also, even though I'm 63, big machines are always a pleasure to watch. It brings me back to when I was a small kid in the 1960s and Interstate 94 was slammed through the part of St. Paul where I lived. The corridor for the freeway ran parallel to the street I lived on and was only 4 blocks from my house. My many brothers and I spent loads of time watching the coordinated process over two years. (We were excited and fascinated, and of course were unaware of the controversy about building these blocks-wide barriers right through the poorest neighborhoods of cities across the whole country.)

A few years later, Richard Scarry's 'Cars and Trucks and Things That Go' came out, and even though I was a bit old for it (I was nine at the time), I loved reading it to the boys I babysat on the other side of my block, and still loved it decades later when I'd read it with my own boy. Your videos give me the same sense of wonder -- and fun! -- at the design, engineering, and building of large things. And your camera work on these construction projects, from wide shots with a drone to cameras dropping into water-dug pits, is fantastic!

[joshuasturre]

It's a good day when you get a new Practical Engineering video

[bmolley]

As someone who manages the design of projects exactly like this for railroads across the country, I can say that this video is packed with a ton of information. This was such a good example to use to highlight all the considerations, systems, and techniques that make up a construction project like this.

[robertregister]

I used to do this for a living and you did a good job of covering all of the tasks involved without over or under explaining it. Keep up the high quality videos.

[rhouser]

I work at a power plant that used to be coal fired but switched to natural gas. Getting the pipe line there was amazing. It had to go under a subyard, under a river, up through a side of a mountain & pop up in a field a long way off. The drill bit came out within 1 ft of where they planned. I was amazed how they were able to do that! I get worried when I have to drill through a wall hoping I come out on the other side in the right spot.

[spicybaguette]

The importance of coordination between construction workers and railroad operators can not be overstated. Last April in the Netherlands, a freight train and intercity crashed into a crane that was inexplicably crossing the tracks, killing the crane operator and injuring thirty people

[Surveyor_Mitch]

As a surveyor, I’d love to see more videos promoting such a technological profession

[RyckmanApps]

After getting my “Practical” fix, I have to admit I used to ask why there are so many people on sites like this. Not after Grady’s last bunch of videos. Thanks to you Grady and Crystal Clear for making this happen

[lyledal]

Those vacuum excavators are very cool. Last year we had a utility pole come down and need to be replaced. The ellectric company used a vacuum excavator to dig the hole for the new pole. Super fast and extremely tidy!

[cavemaneca]

I'm always excited to watch a boring video from Practical Engineering!

[karryhardman]

In my youth I did a lot of this for AT&T pushing pipe with a pneumatic driver. Rail roads were very controlled jobs. Thanks for bringing back the memories.

[LukasKalbertodt]

12:15 looks like some workers signed the water pipe before inserting. That's cute :) It's a fun thought, thinking that below earth, there are tons of signatures from workers installing critical infrastructure ^_^

[keab]

I'm so happy that this series is continuing. It's absolutely fascinating.