Michels Corporation used a Herrenknecht 750-ton pipe thruster to push a 48-inch-diameter pipe string 4,038 feet under the Dow Barge Canal in Freeport, Texas.

The Direct Pipe installation passed under a flood control levee, Dow Barge Canal, a rail crossing and multiple road crossings.

The two-month project was completed Aug. 28. Designed by Herrenknecht AG in Germany, Direct Pipe is a one-pass technology that combines aspects of horizontal directional drilling and tunneling to install pipes.

The distance of 4,038 feet set a new North American record in trenchless technology.