Commercial and industrial HDD for conduit, fiber, water, sewer and gas in Amarillo, Canyon and across Potter and Randall Counties, planned around Panhandle ground and the City of Amarillo’s boring approvals.
Texas Hawk is headquartered in Southlake and our crews are based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Amarillo is a long haul northwest, so for Potter and Randall County projects we plan the rig and crew mobilization into the schedule and price from the start. When a program outgrows one crew, our 300+ crew network can mobilize nationwide.
Amarillo sits on the High Plains at the edge of the Palo Duro Canyon country, so the surface geology mixes flat plains deposits with older canyon rock. The USGS state geologic map lists a handful of units for each county. Site soil borings set the final tooling and fluid program; this is the general picture.
The Ogallala Formation is at the surface across about 38 percent of Potter County and 14 percent of Randall County. It is a sand, gravel and caliche formation, so a bore can move between soft sand and hard cemented layers.
The Tecovas Formation covers about 27 percent of Potter County. It is Upper Triassic shale, clay, siltstone and sand, exposed in Palo Duro Canyon and along the Canadian River, and clay and shale of this kind swell with water and stick to tooling.
The Blackwater Draw Formation covers about 76 percent of Randall County and 16 percent of Potter County. It is a wind-laid silt, sand and clay that often holds caliche layers, hard bands of cemented calcium carbonate.
The Quartermaster and Whitehorse units cover about 12 percent of Potter County, the Trujillo Formation about 4 percent, and the Dockum Group about 3 percent of Randall County. These older sedimentary rocks sit near the canyon edges and can bring rock into an otherwise soft bore.
Playa deposits cover about 2 percent of Randall County and 0.4 percent of Potter County, and alluvium about 1 percent of each. Playa floors hold expansive Randall clay and collect runoff, so bores near them get extra attention on fluid control and depth.
Soil data drives the bore profile, tooling, drilling fluid and vacuum capture. Caliche, shale and wet playa clay change the schedule, so we price and plan for it up front.
In Amarillo the City’s specifications are explicit about boring, and the electric and gas providers are a mix of an investor-owned utility and co-ops. Each owner has written rules, and we line them up early so they do not hold up mobilization.
A right-of-way permit is required before cutting, boring or excavating in dedicated public right-of-way or easement. Service lines go through the Street Superintendent and main line extensions through the City Engineer, applications are filed online through the City’s eBuilder system, and no work begins until the permit is approved.
The City Engineer or a representative must approve any tunneling, boring or jacking method in City right-of-way or easements before work begins, and the work must follow the City’s jacking, boring and tunneling specification.
Pits and trenches are excavated outside the traveled portions of the right-of-way and backfilled immediately after the pipe is in place. Mud formed in boring operations is used to fill voids around the pipe or casing.
Southwestern Public Service, an Xcel Energy company, serves Potter and Randall Counties, including Amarillo and Canyon. Rita Blanca Electric Cooperative serves part of Potter County, and the Greenbelt and Swisher electric cooperatives serve parts of Randall County. Atmos Energy provides natural gas in Amarillo.
The plains here are dotted with playa lakes, shallow closed basins that hold storm runoff. We check how a bore crosses a playa or drainage way before choosing the alignment and depth.
Potter and Randall Counties are in TxDOT’s Amarillo District with Armstrong, Carson, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Gray, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Roberts and Sherman counties. Work in state right-of-way is permitted through TxDOT’s utility process.
Amarillo is the hub city of the Texas Panhandle. A 2026 Cushman & Wakefield report, covered by Dallas Innovates, ranked the Panhandle No. 8 among its third-tier data center markets, which points to power and fiber work in the region.
Plans, utility records and soil data reviewed up front, with the bore set to the City’s boring rules and the caliche, shale and playa conditions.
Texas811 notice at least two working days ahead, utilities verified where the bore crosses them, and City of Amarillo approvals started early.
Bore the path, track it, and capture drilling fluid so it stays out of playas, ditches and storm drains.
Daily production reports and as-builts for close-out.
Yes. A right-of-way permit is required before cutting, boring or excavating in dedicated public right-of-way or easement, and no work begins until it is approved.
The City Engineer or a representative must approve any tunneling, boring or jacking method before work begins.
Outside the traveled portions of the right-of-way, and they are backfilled immediately after the pipe is in place.
It can be. Caliche is cemented calcium carbonate that forms hard layers in soft ground, so we use soil borings to plan tooling and allow for it in the schedule.
Yes. Amarillo straddles the county line, and the same crew and process cover both counties, with the same TxDOT district and the same City rules inside Amarillo.
Commercial and industrial projects only: developers, general contractors, utilities and electrical, telecom and mechanical contractors.
Commercial projects only. Fill out the quick form or call us — we’ll take it from there.