Horizontal boring to install drainage pipe proved a more cost-effective alternative to digging a trench, which would have entailed much greater damage to the landscaping.
The existing grade channeled runoff between the small evergreen at the center of this photo (taken facing the road) and the corner of the dwelling at right. Digging a swale to divert runoff to the street — as specified by the original plan — would have required tearing up existing landscaping and, most likely, removing the mature tree at the rear of the photo.
The controls on the horizontal boring rig allow the operator to "steer" the bit left, right, up, or down.
On this job, the angled bit emerged from the soil almost exactly on target about 100 feet away from the drilling rig; note the toppled marker stake leaning against the boring shaft.