Pipe ramming can be the most efficient and economical underground trenchless technique for installing and replacing culverts. At times it may be the only feasible option. Such was the case in a southern Illinois railroad culvert replacement.CN Rail Line contracted HURK Underground Technologies of Grinnell, Iowa, to install two 180-foot-long, 60-inch-diameter culverts beneath the railway in Cairo, Illinois. The culverts were designed to relieve an existing, partially collapsed, 48-inch steel culvert with reduced capacity.Work began in November 2013. From the start, HURK was faced with daunting obstacles. For one, the job site was in extremely wet ground conditions far from the access
