Pipeline Construction Projects

For more than four decades, Marathon Underground has delivered trenchless pipeline construction solutions for major infrastructure, utility, and energy projects across Canada. Pipeline installations often present significant engineering and construction challenges due to the need to cross beneath highways, rail corridors, rivers, environmentally sensitive areas, and densely developed urban environments while minimizing disruption at surface level.

Traditional open-cut excavation methods are not always practical for these crossings due to traffic impacts, environmental concerns, deep excavation requirements, or restricted access conditions. To overcome these challenges, Marathon Underground utilizes a range of specialized trenchless installation methods that allow pipelines and utilities to be installed safely, efficiently, and with minimal surface disturbance.

Marathon Underground has completed trenchless pipeline installations with diameters up to 72 inches and crossing lengths reaching approximately 250 metres. These installations support a wide range of municipal, industrial, oil and gas, and utility infrastructure applications throughout varying ground conditions across Canada.

A key trenchless method used by Marathon Underground is auger boring, also commonly referred to as jack and bore. This process hydraulically advances a steel casing through the ground while rotating helical augers inside the casing remove excavated material. The method requires both a launch shaft and receiving shaft and is commonly used for pipeline crossings beneath highways, railways, and existing infrastructure corridors.

Slip boring is another specialized trenchless technique frequently used for oil and gas pipeline installations where leaving a casing in the ground is not desirable. In this process, a temporary casing is bored or rammed between shafts before the product pipe is attached and pulled back through the crossing. The temporary casing is then removed, leaving only the final product pipe installed underground.

Marathon Underground also utilizes pipe ramming methods that employ pneumatic percussion equipment to advance casing pipes through the ground. Pipe ramming is particularly effective beneath railways and roadways where minimizing settlement and surface movement is critical. The process allows displaced material to enter the pipe interior, reducing external ground disturbance and improving installation stability.

Through decades of trenchless construction experience, Marathon Underground has built a reputation for delivering safe, reliable, and environmentally responsible pipeline installations across complex project environments. The company’s commitment to technical expertise, specialized equipment, and client-focused execution continues to support critical underground infrastructure projects throughout Canada.