How does AI help a drilling contractor keep better job records?

A drilling job creates a lot of paper. There are plans and work orders before the bore, bore logs and photos during it, and as-builts, invoices and reports after it. On a small crew, keeping all of that straight often falls to whoever has time at the end of a long day. That is where AI can help.

The paperwork problem

Every bore produces records that someone has to collect, check and turn into something useful:

• Plans and work orders that have to be read and matched to the work.
• Bore logs from the locator, rod by rod.
• Job site photos of pits, handholes and the restored surface.
• As-built records showing where the line actually went.
• Quotes and invoices tied to the work completed.
• Progress updates for the contractor or owner.

When those pieces sit in different places, things get missed. A photo is on someone’s phone. A field change isn’t written down. An invoice goes out late because the footage wasn’t totaled.

What AI can do with job records

Why it works best after the bore

The most useful data on a drilling job already exists. Modern walkover locators can log each rod as the bore goes. Digital Control Inc., which makes the DigiTrak locators, describes its log-while-drilling app as a way to replace handwritten bore logs with as-built reports, give clients easy-to-read documentation, and keep historical records that help a contractor manage liability.

AI builds on that. Once the job is done and the log is exported, AI can bring it together with the photos and plans and turn it into a clean record. It doesn’t need to watch the drill. It needs good records, and a crew that already creates them.

This fits a wider shift in construction. The Federal Highway Administration describes e-Construction as the collection, review, approval and distribution of highway construction contract documents in a paperless environment. AI is one more tool for doing that well on smaller jobs.

What AI should not do

Good AI help has clear limits:

• It doesn’t run the equipment. The crew drills, steers and makes the field calls.
• It doesn’t send bills on its own. A person checks and approves every invoice.
• It doesn’t make safety calls. It can flag a missing locate note or a dig-rule reminder, but trained people decide.
• It doesn’t replace the measurements. It organizes the crew’s records; it doesn’t invent them.

For guidance on doing this responsibly, the National Institute of Standards and Technology published its AI Risk Management Framework in January 2023. It is voluntary and is meant to help organizations manage the risks of AI and build trustworthiness into how it is designed and used.

What this means for the contractor you work with

When a drilling contractor keeps records this way, the people who hire them get:

• Fewer surprises, because plans and orders are read when they arrive.
• Clean as-builts, with a map of where the line really went.
• Quicker quotes, because the job details are already organized.
• Clear progress updates, without chasing anyone for status.
• Invoices that match the work, checked by a person.

How UGA does it

UGA has an AI operations agent, Drillbert. We are getting him ready now. He will read plans and orders when they come in, pick up the bore records from our locator after the work, turn them with job site photos into clean as-built records, help build quotes faster, draft invoices for our team to approve, and send contractors clear progress reports. He will work with five AI specialists, and our people stay in charge. Meet him on the technology behind UGA.

See our horizontal directional drilling and fiber and telecom conduit boring services, or request a bid.

This article is general information about how AI can support job records. It does not describe any specific software product.