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Greenhouse horticulture is a sector that needs a lot of heat and they are therefore dependent on gas. This is also true at the Waardjesweg in Asten-Heusden, where a series of vegetable growers have several glass nurseries. TBM has offered a sustainable alternative there with an incinerator. Heat pipes are required for such an oven and Hurkmans was called in to do this.
We speak to Luke van de Ven, 4th generation of the Hurkmans Group, an inframan at heart. Luke tells us that Hurkmans is laying a heat pipeline between the various glass nurseries. Hurkmans has been asked to carry out the total project including the traffic diversions, source dewatering and pressure drilling, all of which the Hurkmans Group has in-house.
The pipelines cross the stream 'de Aa' in a few places. To realize this, various options were considered, such as directional drilling, auger drilling or open excavation in combination with a pumping facility. After some deliberation, Hurkmans called in sister company Ockhuizen to see if it was possible to proceed with pressure drilling in combination with pumping. Press drilling is one of the specialties of Ockhuizen, which is best known in the market for its well drilling services. Luke would like to change that, because Ockhuizen now has two fully-fledged drilling teams and they can offer a complete package with their specialization in soil drilling and well drilling.
In Asten- Heusden, it was more efficient to realize the crossings with 2 ø610mm boreholes of 20 m and 2 ø610mm boreholes of 30 m. Making the boreholes was not easy, but they were ultimately successful, partly due to the use of a BodemBoX system. At the project site we are dealing with soft soil, little bearing capacity and therefore not suitable for working with an embankment. Moreover, pressing a borehole gives vibrations, in combination with an open excavation and weak slope not ideal with regard to safety. Therefore, safe excavation within a SoilBoX system was chosen. Using a single-guided roller BoX system, Hurkmans was able to create a pressing and receiving pit on both sides of the Aa for the pressing borings.
For Ockhuizen this is an everyday job because they are part of the select group that performs press drilling for Synfra. Stichting Synfra is a joint venture of Enexis, Brabant Water and WML Limburg drinking water and as a subcontractor of the chain partners, this results in a lot of press drilling. Nevertheless, Luke feels that the fact that Ockhuizen drills press wells is not well known in the market and that is why he himself is working hard to make it better known.
When we ask Luke about the future of Ockhuizen, he immediately answers, "digitize." Ockhuizen is working on an app that will allow customers to gain full insight into the running drainage system. Ockhuizen already works with pressure transducers in monitoring wells that continuously record the groundwater level and display it digitally in an app. Thus, when a maximum groundwater level is reached, the pumping plant can be remotely controlled, minimizing the amount of groundwater extracted. In the near future, such an app will also be available to customers and the entire process will be even more digitized. Luke sees his own future outside in execution, which is where his passion lies.
