Patent ID: 8408843

Claim:
A method, comprising: facilitating underground installation of communication cable by: connecting a controllable source of water to an input end of a continuous and flexible conduit having a permanent curve-bias curving said conduit, said conduit having a circumferential grooved frictional surface on the outside of said conduit near an output end of said conduit; placing said output end of said conduit at, and orienting said output end into, ground surface adjacent one side of an obstruction blocking a desired underground pathway for said underground installation; activating said controllable source of water to flow into said input end, said water having an input end water pressure, and out from said output end directly into said ground at substantially said input end water pressure which is sufficient pressure to cause erosion of said ground surface and ground beneath said ground surface; directing said conduit to cause a pathway of said erosion of said ground beneath said ground surface to follow an expected route under said obstruction, said expected route being shaped similarly to shape of said curved conduit, said permanent curve-bias being useful regarding distance traversed underground, said distance being consistent with size of said obstruction, until said conduit emerges from said ground surface adjacent the other side of said obstruction; and feeding said communication cable through said erosion pathway from said other side of said obstruction to said one side of said obstruction by lashing said grooved frictional surface fixedly to said cable and pulling said conduit along with said lashed cable from said other side to said one side, said communication cable connectable between a communication signal source and a building.