Guidelines for HDD – ASTM F1962 vs. MAB-7 What’s the Difference?

Abstract

ASTM F1962, “Standard Guide for Use of Maxi-Horizontal Directional Drilling for Placement of Polyethylene Pipe or Conduit Under Obstacles, Including River Crossings”, was most recently revised in early 2025. MAB-7, “MAB Guidelines for Use of Mini-Horizontal Directional Drilling for Placement of HDPE (PE4710) Pipe in Municipal Applications”, provided by the Municipal Advisory Board of the Plastics Pipe Institute, was available in 2021, a few years earlier. MAB-7 provides information analogous to that provided in ASTM F1962, but at a level appropriate for the less complex mini-HDD technology and typical project characteristics. Although both ends of the industry are based on similar basic principles, the applications, and practical issues to be addressed, and operating procedures, are quite different. Whereas the longer and deeper boreholes for the maxi-HDD operations require a extensive subsurface investigation of soil characteristics, the shorter, shallower mini-HDD applications must be careful to avoid adjacent utilities, such as power and gas lines. The larger investment in a complex maxi-HDD installation justifies the services of a qualified engineer to determine the required pipe strength, while the more frequent, shorter, installations of mini-HDD installations require relatively simple evaluations and guidelines, which, paradoxically, will also provide a better estimate of the pull force for such applications than the more detailed analysis appropriate for the larger scale operations. Other differences in the guidelines are also discussed.