Trenchless technology is slightly more expensive than digging a trench, unless requirements call for placing pipes or utility lines deeper than usual or through extremely wet ground. "But it is still a viable alternative to tearing up the streets and gridlocking traffic," says Carl Neagoy, an #Akkerman executive. "City engineers don't include the social costs of wasted time and fuel, and road rage, that digging trenches cause, so TBMs always seem too expensive

The art of digging a hole

https://www.machinedesign.com/archive/article/21817650/the-art-of-digging-a-hole