Mississippi is working to expand high-speed internet access across the state with the help of various funding sources.

In 2023, the state received $1.2 billion from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, part of the 2021 federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In 2020, as the second-largest recipient of the FCC’s Rural Development Opportunity Fund (RDOF), Mississippi received $495.7 million to establish internet infrastructure for 218,990 sites over a decade. The RDOF has set deployment milestones for the third to sixth years.

A significant portion of the RDOF funding in Mississippi was allocated to broadband subsidiaries of Rural Electric Cooperatives. Out of the 25 Electric Cooperatives in the state, 17 are developing their broadband branches. Fourteen of these companies received $73.2 million from the 2020 COVID-19 Broadband Grant Program, established by the Mississippi Legislature with CARES Act funding.

To ensure timely completion, these programs have several deadlines. This has led everyone involved to scramble for qualified resources and machinery to transform plans into reality.

Billy “Blue” Cleveland has dedicated most of his horizontal directional drilling (HDD) career to installing critical infrastructure in the United States. In his early years, Blue was involved in pipeline projects both nationwide and internationally. At that time, the industry was new to everyone.

“We all aimed to make this innovative trenchless method of installing pipelines successful, which required extensive planning and explaining the concept of HDD to project owners,” Blue said.

In 2001, Blue and his wife Tammy Cleveland established a company that grew to be one of the largest HDD businesses in the Southeastern United States. They sold this business in 2014. Afterward, Tammy pursued other interests, including raising their sons, while Blue remained involved in the company until September 2021. After that, the Clevelands officially retired and spent their time hunting, fishing, and farming.

About four months into retirement, the Clevelands started to miss the friendships they had formed over the years in the HDD industry. They also recognized the statewide need for quality HDD crews to help build the necessary infrastructure for universal broadband connectivity.

“One day, we were sitting in the living room, and I suggested to Tammy that we start another venture,” Blue said. “I knew about the ample local opportunities, and honestly, I wasn’t ready to retire. After discussing it for a while, I reached out to a few contacts and decided to proceed.”

Tammy was fully on board with the idea and excited about rejoining the industry.

“We’ve missed the people,” she said. “This industry means a lot to us. Over the years, we’ve built numerous friendships here. I had only one condition — that we grow at a steady, manageable pace.”

With Tammy’s support, Blue reached out to their long-standing friend, Bryan Strickland. Together, they laid the foundation for Dynasty Construction Services, officially launched in March 2022.

Dynasty Construction’s next step was to contact Ryan Merchant at Vermeer MidSouth to assemble their equipment fleet.

“In the post-pandemic period, contractors struggled to find drill rigs. However, the team at Vermeer MidSouth swiftly located a used 2019 Vermeer D20x22 S3 HDD for us,” Blue said. “A few months later, they also secured a new D20x22 S3 drill and a D24x40 S3 drill. This allowed us to start operations quickly.”

Since then, Dynasty Construction has expanded its equipment with two more D20x22 S3 drills, a Vermeer CV573GT Trailer Vac, two Vermeer LP573XDT Trailer Vacs, and a Vermeer SPX25 Vibratory Plow.

In addition to acquiring equipment, Blue enlisted 12 HDD professionals he had previously worked with. This team has since expanded to a group of 25.

Dynasty Construction typically operates five drilling crews alongside tie-in and restoration crews. Most of their work involves installing fiber, from rural fiber backbone to subdivision work, and connecting homes and businesses to the network. Although most of their projects are carried out within a few hours of their headquarters in Newton, Mississippi, they are licensed to work across the states from Texas to Georgia.

In its early years, Dynasty Construction primarily collaborated with notable utility corporations. However, with the increased funding in the last few years, a significant shift in their clientele has occurred.

“We’ve begun to attract considerable attention from cooperatives,” Blue said. He revealed that partnerships with various cooperatives have commenced, and they are now launching projects with local telephone corporations.

“We’ve completed three or four projects so far,” he said.

Dynasty Construction utilizes a range of drill models to support every stage of the buildout process.

“Our D24x40 S3 is typically employed for larger or longer crossings,” Blue said. “With that machine, we’ve completed 12-inch, 18-inch, and 20-inch crossings. It’s an exceptional machine for fiber and other utility projects we occasionally undertake.”

The team relies on Vermeer D20x22 S3 Drills for subdivision work. “These are our day-to-day workhorses for drilling. They are efficient, productive, and reliable, which is precisely what we need to maintain profitability and adhere to timelines,” Blue said.

“Using a D20x22 S3, we’ve drilled well over 1,000 feet several times,” he added. “On one job, we could not divide a drill shot into two, so we managed to drill between 1,500 feet and 1,600 feet with the D20x22. We’ve also drilled 2,000 feet with a D24x40 S3 in ideal ground conditions.”

Blue explained that the majority of their work involves bore depths between 4 feet and 20 feet, accounting for approximately 85 to 90 percent of their projects. However, they have tackled projects with depths up to 70 feet — the deepest they have gone.

Additionally, crews use Vermeer trailer vacuum excavators to locate potholes ahead of drill crews and to manage fluids during drilling.

Dynasty Construction is currently laying the foundation for a fiber network near major roadways on the north side of Jackson, Mississippi.

“The right of way space is limited,” Blue said. “We’ve brought in our D20x22 S3 drills. We’re installing around 5,000 feet of conduit, doing 500-foot to 600-foot segments at a time. We perform a substantial amount of work in this area. Jackson is one of the state’s older parts, with many old utilities. While most of these have been located by the city, some date back to the 40s and 50s. Extra care is needed to locate these.”

Dynasty Construction’s teams are headed by seasoned crew members who have worked in the region before. They are familiar with what lies underground and the material they are drilling into. Throughout his career, Blue has kept meticulous records of all sites his companies have drilled, documenting challenging conditions and obstacles encountered. This detailed record-keeping proves beneficial when his teams work on other projects in the area, helping to avoid utilities and choose the correct tooling and drilling fluid mixture.

“The toughest material we typically encounter here is hard clay,” Blue said. “Occasionally, we might find shale. The Vermeer MidSouth team has consistently done a great job equipping us with the right HDD tooling for any conditions we face. For this project, we’re using Vermeer premium dirt housing and a Vermeer Ace Pro bit. As for drilling fluids, we’re using a simple bentonite and water mixture.”

Merchant from Vermeer MidSouth visited the site to check in and commented on Blue’s invaluable mentorship to the industry over the years.

“Every current and former employee I’ve worked with refers to Blue’s driller’s bible,” he said. “His knowledge of the regional conditions is unparalleled in the business, which has significantly benefitted numerous other individuals.”

Merchant also expressed his gratitude to Blue and Tammy for coming out of retirement to help build the state’s infrastructure for high-speed internet.

“Everyone benefits from their expertise,” Merchant said. “Blue has trained numerous individuals in the industry about the correct way to do things, which benefits the entire industry.”