Dan Schitea
Dan is the Vice President of Vadnais Microtunneling, Drill Tech’s wholly owned subsidiary. Possessing 30 years’ experience in the construction industry and a specialization in microtunneling, Mr. Schitea has overseen over 70 projects as a Project Manager and Project Engineer. The drives from these jobs have been performed across the United States, through a variety of soil conditions and groundwater levels with shafts at various depths. Mr. Schitea’s extensive background in underground operations enhances the Drill Tech team’s approach to project success.
Dan's Featured Projects
Harbour Island Force Main Replacement Design-Build GMP3 | Tampa, FL
This project consisted of designing, furnishing and installing a single reach of 3,156 LF of 78" OD Steel Casing by microtunneling method with the installation of 54" Pressure FRP carrier pipe for a new sewer force main. The microtunnel crossing was installed primarily in limestone and dense sands beneath the Ybor Turning Basin in North Tampa Bay. The entire tunnel alignment was approximately 55' below Tampa Bay requiring two secant pile shafts approximately 70' deep. The Jacking Shaft was 40' in diameter and the reception shaft was 20' in diameter.
Anderson Dam Tunnel Project | Morgan Hill, CA
The project consisted of a single microtunneling drive with the installation of 372 LF of 100" outside diameter steel pipe. The MTBM was launched from inside of a 24' Horseshoe Tunnel installed by Drill Tech under the Anderson Dam approximately 1,600' inside and recovered in the Anderson Reservoir Lake. The tunnel alignment consisted of highly fractured and sheared serpentinite/mélange containing harder blocks of basalt and serpentinite containing naturally occurring asbestos.
Harvest Water – Franklin/Eschinger Distribution Pipeline Project | Morgan Hill, CA
This project consisted of two (2) separate Microtunnel Drives using 78" OD Trinity Tri-Loc Spiral Welded Steel Casing and installing either 60" WSP at the Railroad Crossing or 66" WSP at the Stone Lake Creek Crossing. The microtunnel drive lengths were 181 LF and 344 LF.
Second Force Main under Interstate-75 | Venice, FL
This project consisted of two (2) separate Microtunnel Drives of approximately 215 LF each using 42" OD x 0.625" Trinity Tri-Loc Spiral Welded Bare Steel Casing as well as installing and grouting 24" DIP carrier pipe. The microtunnels were installed separately beneath the Northbound and Southbound lanes of I-75 in a shallow alignment in primarily sandy conditions beneath the groundwater table.
Atoka Pipeline Raw Water Transmission Line Canadian River Crossing | Byng, OK
This project consisted of furnishing and microtunneling approximately 2,920 LF of 84" diameter Reinforced Concrete Jacking as a Casing and approximately 2,850 LF of 72" diameter Reinforced Concrete Jacking Pipe as a casing with installation of 72" and 60" welded steel carrier pipes for raw water transmission purposes. Two of the tunnels were installed beneath the Canadian River. The slopes on the microtunnel drives were all uphill at 8.5% & 7.3% and the entire tunnel alignment was below the groundwater table. This project also had two deep jacking shafts of 125 VF and four shallow reception shafts of approximately 18 VF. The two jacking shafts were constructed by a combination of 34' ID secant piles shaft up to 65 VF and 60 VF of liner plate to the bottom.
Progressive Design-Build Services for the Pump Station Improvements Project | San Carlos, CA
This project consisted of seven microtunnel drives in which Vadnais supplied, microtunneled, and contact grouted 4,324 LF of 36" Hobas FRP Jacking Pipe (in 20' lengths). These tunnels mostly ran parallel to US 101, with one long tunnel that crossed the US 101 North Bound On/Off Ramp at Holly Street. Tunnels were also installed west of the San Carlos Airport, which required multiple FAA OE/AA 7460-1 Obstruction Filings/Permits, as well as continuous FAA / Airport Operation coordination. The microtunnels were installed in soils consisting primarily of medium-stiff to stiff, fat to lean clay with sand below the groundwater table.
