The shortest distance between any two points is a straight line, but what if there's a freeway between those points?

The answer, discovered by numerous general contractors in California, Arizona and Nevada, is Fontana-based Ayala Boring Inc. The company's business is trenchless excavation, drilling underground tunnels that allow water, sewer or other pipeline to get where it needs to, without disrupting the surface.


Ayala Boring president Ralph Ayala, Jr., with an excavator TBM,
tunnel boring machine, used for trenchless excavating.

The company, founded by current president Ralph Ayala Jr. and his father, has been drilling tunnels since 1972. Ayala Boring uses auger or tunnel boring machines to excavate lines for tunnels. The machines drill the hole and line it with pipe in one step. Long sections of pipe are welded together just outside the tunnel entrance. The tunnels may be as small as five inches in diameter or large enough that the boring machine's operator rides in it and steers it along its course. Jobs can last a few days or as long as two or three months, Ayala said.

Lasers used

Because inaccuracy can be expensive and time-consuming, the company often uses lasers to ensure that the boring machines stick to the correct path. Corey Evans of EL-Co Contractors Inc. in San Bernardino said his company has used Ayala Boring on all its major boring projects for many years, drilling under flood control channels, freeways and railroad tracks.

He's impressed not only with the customer service Ayala Boring provides, but also with the company's technical skills, Evans said. "During their last boring project with us, ... approximately 31 feet deep, Ayala bored a 54-inch casing, approximately 400 feet long and hit their mark right on the money," he said.

The company started in Upland and moved to Fontana as it expanded. It now has 24 employees and more than a dozen pieces of heavy equipment. The company brings in additional workers when needed. One of the benefits of the Fontana location is its proximity to freeways and the trucking companies it relies on to move materials to job sites, Ayala said.

The region has a high-quality work force that the company has long had access to, thanks to its competitive wages and relationships with two unions. The Fontana yard remains the company's base, but it insists on having its own people do jobs it wins. That means adding travel costs and hotel stays to the costs of its bids, but the company remains competitive, Ayala said.

Ayala Boring is usually hired as a subcontractor, meaning the client's satisfaction reflects on the general contractor. The company makes contractors that hire it look good, said Walter Rasic Jr. of W.A. Rasic Construction Co. in Bell Gardens. His company has worked with Ayala Boring for almost decades on hundreds of projects in Southern California, Rasic said.

"It didn't take long for us to realize we could always count on them no matter the size or difficulty of any project," he said. "Not only are they one of the most experienced tunneling contractors in the area but they are honest, professional, courteous and extremely dependable."  Steve Stewart, vice president at Clearwater Pipeline in Perris tells a similar tale. A 25-year business relationship has taught him that Ayala Boring is "professional, they complete their jobs on time and they stand by their service," Stewart said.

The industry has stood by the company as well. Ayala Jr. was elected president of the Engineering Contractors Association in Downey for 1996 and 1997. The trade group presidency is usually reserved for leaders of larger contractors, the younger Ayala said.

Source: The Business Press