Sinkhole Investigations Cheval What Equipment is Needed to Perform Sinkhole Investigations?

/in , /by

Many people are shocked to know that an insurance company will rarely be the one who goes out to a location to perform sinkhole investigations. Cheval residents might not know that insurance companies typically contract out the work to a professional geotechnical drilling company, as they are the ones who have the necessary equipment needed to find and correct an active sinkhole. Many homeowners do not know what type of equipment that is needed to perform sinkhole investigations, so here is a small portion of what professionals may be using, and how they go about correcting a sinkhole that is proven to have been growing. 

Sample Collection Equipment

Even though geotechnical drilling professionals deal with a lot of sinkholes, it can still be hard for someone to find one on the surface of the location, so their best course of action is to collect ground samples. In order to do this during an active sinkhole investigation, Cheval residents should know that a boring hole needs to be drilled and brought to the surface to be looked at. These samples will display different levels of sediments, or lack thereof if there is an active sinkhole that is present. Typically, more than one sample will be collected at a location to look at them collectively to see if there are any discrepancies.

Tools for Compaction Grouting

There are different ways to go about correcting sinkholes to make sure they will not cause damage in the future, and one of the most common methods is known as compaction grouting. This is when professionals will drill to where a sinkhole is losing sediment, and pump it with a compaction material, to stabilize the sinkhole and potentially prevent it from growing in the future. After Sinkhole Investigations, Cheval residents should know that an insurance company will only act when they have undeniable evidence for a sinkhole.

*Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Amdrill Inc*

Geotechnical Survey Cheval How Often Should Geotechnical Surveys Be Conducted?

/in , /by

There are certain individuals and certain companies who rely on the information that is obtained from a geotechnical survey. Cheval residents might be one of these individuals who can really benefit from this information. One question that many people have when it comes to getting a geotechnical survey done is how often should they have it done? Typically, if someone news a geotechnical survey is done they are going to have one performed on a semi-regular basis. This leads many individuals to wonder if they are getting geotechnical drilling surveys done at appropriate times or if they should wait longer before having another one. 

New Construction and Home Buying

One of the most common ways people end up scheduling a geotechnical survey to be performed at a specific site usually has to do with a home or building. Before a building is constructed, it is important that construction companies schedule a geotechnical survey. Cheval residents should also be aware that a geological survey should be done if they are buying a new home, because who knows when the last one was performed and if the information is still accurate. When it comes to buildings and new construction, it will be many years before another geotechnical survey is needed.

Farming and Ranching Surveys

One of the biggest industries that utilize the information collected from a geotechnical survey are the farming and ranching industries. These types of geological surveys will happen more often, and it could even happen on a yearly basis depending on the location. When it comes to a geotechnical survey, Cheval residents should know that a farmer needs to know the state of the ground on the property, because if it doesn’t have the right nutrients it can cause crops to not grow. The same things can happen with ranchers with regard to water supplies.

*Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Amdrill Inc*

Drilling Cheval Can Geotechnical Drilling be Done in the Rain?

/in , /by

Most places in the world have periods of time when they go through a dry season, and a wet season. In the state of Florida, the rainy seasons usually comes when the weather starts heating up during summer. Many individuals might be wondering if geotechnical technical drilling professionals are still able to work in wet weather conditions. This question depends a lot on outside factors such as environmental conditions, and how severe the weather is for geotechnical drilling. Cheval residents should be aware that many times geotechnical drilling professionals will not take on a task in wet weather conditions because it makes everything much harder to finish, and to do so safely.

Safety is the Main Priority

Many people cannot believe that geotechnical drilling professionals may not complete a task if the weather is not optional. Some individuals do not understand how dangerous changes in weather can affect geotechnical drilling. Cheval drilling professionals already have to be careful with the equipment they use and the tasks they perform because it can be dangerous when people are careless. This is not to say that drilling professionals are more careless in bad weather, but the fact that everything is more dangerous. Slips, trips, and falls are still a huge concern for individuals who have to operate heavy or dangerous machinery.

Too Much Water Can Be detrimental to a Drill Site

A bit of rainy weather or some saturation of the soil in the ground is not enough to cause a geotechnical drilling company to stop drilling. Cheval residents should still be made aware that when too much water is coming down, or if too much moisture is left in the ground, drilling is much more difficult to accomplish. Keep in mind that depending on the weather and the temperature, water in the ground can stay in play for a while, which is something to be considered by geotechnical drilling professionals. Often times too much water could cause a boring hole to collapse, ruining the whole project.

*Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Amdrill Inc*

Geotechnical Drilling Cheval Why Developers need Geotechnical Drilling

/in , /by

Cheval developers consider geotechnical drilling to be a very useful technique for gaining critical information and insight about the suitability and integrity of a building site.

What’s Involved in Geotechnical Drilling?

Cheval geotechnical drilling crews will bring a portable drilling rig to the site, where they will extract multiple core samples from various locations throughout the site. These core samples are comprised of a vertical column of soil and stone. The cores are sent to a laboratory for testing and evaluation.

Analysts will look at lots of different properties as they examine the core samples, including:

  • Layer composition;
  • Layer depth;
  • Stone strength;
  • Layer density; and
  • Water content/soil saturation.

Based upon the results of the geotechnical drilling, Cheval developers can determine whether a site can safely support a particular type/size of building. If a building was constructed in an inappropriate location, structural damage may result over time. A common problem involves sinking, whereby some or all of the structure begins to sink down into the earth, resulting in potentially structural damage.

Geotechnical drilling can also help identify the presence of underground voids or cavities which can form when acid-rich ground water seeps into and dissolves pockets in the limestone bedrock. These underground cavities are problematic because they can collapse, forming what’s known as a sinkhole. A sinkhole forms when an underground cavity collapses under the weight of the overlaying structures, soil and stone.

Florida is especially prone to sinkholes because of the large amounts of rain that often falls in a very short time, combined with the sandy soil with a low clay content, and the limestone bedrock. Limestone is very porous and it’s easily dissolved by acidic water.

If further testing is required, the developers may opt to pursue further testing, like ground penetrating radar. Ground penetrating radar creates a digital underground map, depicting the density and thickness of the various underground layers. Whereas geotechnical entails “spot tests”, ground penetrating radar is used to scan large areas of land.

*Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Amdrill Inc*