At PLCS, we pride ourselves on offering numerous effective solutions to underground utility companies. This is hard work, and specific challenges often apply. We have built what we think of as a comprehensive catalog of resources for the physical exploration that has to take place to maintain, repair or install underground utilities in communities.

What is Drill Binding?

Let's talk about a specific solution that we offer on our website. Our non-seizing drill equipment is made to prevent something called drill binding that has a pretty dramatic impact on many underground utility projects.

Essentially, drill binding happens when the surface of the equipment gets too caught up in surface materials, such as asphalt or frozen ground. It's similar to what happens with power tools working through concrete – without proper build or technique, binding can happen consistently, and really impact both the tool and the operator.

Drill Binding and Operator Fatigue

Here's how we put it on our website:

“Seize Free Drill Bits eliminate binding, a major cause of operator fatigue and injury when drilling through pavement.”

Another way to say this is that the drill binding is something that the operator has to manually deal with when it happens.

For example, some operators will tend to work the drill loose and attack again nearby – some people call this “dancing with the machine” – trying to massage the drill bit or other piece of equipment into and out of the surface material, because it keeps getting trapped in there. Anyone who has operated power tools on these types of projects can testify to how quickly operator fatigue happens with drill binding. But the process is not ergonomically friendly to the body – and that’s why we say that injury can often result. In addition, these are not the type of injuries that happen transparently – these injuries can creep up as the worker wrestles with the tool on a regular basis, and they can be difficult to resolve in worker’s compensation negotiations, as well.

The Solution

Our non-seizing drill bits prevent a lot of the struggle that comes with drill binding on projects. This is an excellent example of how a little well-applied technology removes an enormous amount of risk from a job site. Ask us about these and other tools we offer for safer, more efficient and more effective underground utility work. We have a wider supply of ergonomic digging tools, as well as pipe pullers, that our clients use to cut time and dollars out of a project while also making things safer for operators on the ground. Don’t keep doing things the old way – it’s too risky! Get modern labor-saving fixes from a company with an excellent track record in the industry.