Impact moling for new water main

[Jude3003]

Hello, 

Due to having a burst lead water main, we have decided to get a new plastic water main laid and are looking at impact moling technique (as not to completely destroy our new block paved driveway). 

We need the new pipe to run from the main water supply outside of the house and into our kitchen (approximate distance around 17 metres). Can anyone please give APPROX prices on what I should expect to pay? I don't want to pay over the odds but at the same time have no idea "whats about right". I'm in Stoke on Trent.

[Jeremy Harris]

For a run of 140m, moling between holes at approximately 8 to 10m centres (about as far as they can accurately go with the smaller machines), plus laying 32mm MDPE pipe, we were quoted £23k, about 4 years ago.  This was under a road surface, so included making good the access holes to local authority standard.  It didn't include the road licence or any closure fee, it was just the basic cost of digging, moling, laying the pipe and making good.

 

IIRC, the mobilisation cost for the kit was around £600, and the rest was based on a cost per metre, so that would work out at somewhere around £150 to £160 per metre, plus mobilisation.  That seems high, and I suspect that it's probably the fact that the contractor had to be local authority approved, plus that they were digging the access holes in the lane, and so making good the road surface afterwards, that pushed the price up.

 

Does the whole 17m have to run under the block paved drive?  I was told that they need fairly large (around 1m x 1m square) access hole to get the mole in and set and aligned at the right depth initially, so depending on where your pipe runs you may want to consider this.

Edited November 3, 2017 by JSHarris

[Jude3003]

Thank you, we are aware that a small amount of the drive will need to come up, in order to set it up. Just one of the holes will need to be put in through the drive, the other will be at that back of the property near the kitchen. We have had the first quote in at £1250 so that seems very reasonable, maybe our area may also be why its considerably lower. Thank you for your time to reply.  

[nod]

It would be much cheaper to take some of the paving up

And relay