'>Geotechnical Drilling Willow Bend How Does Georgia's Geology Impact Geotechnical Drilling?

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Willow Bend, Georgia natives often wonder about how this region’s unique geology can impact their geotechnical drilling project or other drilling projects in the area. When it comes to geotechnical drilling, Willow Bend is located in an area with lots of metamorphic rocks – a type of rock that includes some of the densest rocks on the planet. As a result, the unique geology in a particular region can have a significant impact on the difficulty and time frame of drilling projects.

Willow Bend geotechnical drilling technicians will take a slightly different approach depending upon your precise location.

Georgia does have some very unique geology, comprised of four separate and distinct geologic regions. These areas are the Coastal Plain, the Blue Ridge region, the Piedmont region and the Valley and Ridge region.
Willow Bend is located just south of Atlanta in the region known as the Piedmont region, which is home to lots of metamorphic rock, including gneiss’s, amphibolites, schist’s, and migmatites. This region is also the site of some igneous rock, such as granite, which is one of the hardest and most plentiful stone types on the planet.

These rock types are quite dense in many instances, which results in a slower, more time consuming geotechnical drilling operation. Although these rocks tend to be less prone to some problematic formations, such as the underground voids that can collapse into a sinkhole.

The Piedmont region is also home to the famous red soil that Georgia is known for. A blend of iron oxides, halloysite and kaolinite comprise this red soil, which is clay-rich and quite dense. This can make for rather challenging geotechnical drilling efforts due to the soil’s density. This also allows for less complexity in terms of construction projects since the soil is far more stable than the sandy soil that’s prevalent in other areas of the southern United States.

Georgia’s Piedmont region features lots of rolling hills and some larger mountains, including Pine Mountain and Stone Mountain. The latter features granite outcroppings.

These four regions of Georgia exist because a number of the Earth’s plates collided to form the Pangean super continent. This collision of multiple tectonic plates also led to the formation of the Appalachian mountain range, which is believed to have formed approximately 300 million years ago.

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

Geotechnical Drilling White Water Difficult Sites and Geotechnical Drilling

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White Water, Georgia natives most often turn to a geotechnical drilling firm for help with a project like a new construction project or a civil engineering project involving a levee, dam or roadway. And while many geotechnical drilling projects involve locations that are relatively easy to access, there are some projects where Amdrill’s technicians encounter more of a challenge.

So in today’s article on geotechnical drilling, White Water residents will learn about the most challenging drilling sites.

What Are the Most Challenging Locations for Geotechnical Drilling?

White Water geotechnical drilling technicians generally consider any site that’s hard to access as “challenging.” But challenges come in many different forms.

Marine environments are understandably challenging since you have a water barrier between your drilling rig and the ground. There are also added challenges such as water pressure, which can be significant even at relatively shallow depths. You also need to maintain a stationary location above the drilling site to ensure optimal drill function. This makes drifting or wave action a challenge that must be overcome. Plus, many drilling rigs are vehicle-mounted or feature tank-like tracks. So you need a drilling rig that is sufficiently mobile.

Wetlands are also problematic. Wetlands are hard to access as the water is shallow, yet the ground is far too soft for any wheeled vehicle. Flat-bottomed boats, air boats and even hovercrafts can be used to access a wetlands drilling location (which is a fairly commonplace sites for geotechnical drilling projects.)

Some other drilling projects are considered challenging due to limited space. Confined spaces, such as areas inside or between buildings or other structures can prove to be very challenging for drilling crews. Amdrill has even performed drilling inside buildings, including garages, warehouses, commercial structures and even residential homes.

Even something as simple as a fence or immovable wall can pose a challenge, particularly for larger drilling rigs, which may be truck-mounted or just too large to fit through the fence gates. In the case of water, the lack of a boat ramp can also pose a challenge.

There are many strategies that can be utilized to access challenging sites such as these. In some cases, the drilling rig can be lifted into place using a crane, successfully bypassing a fence, wall or other barrier. In cases where space is limited, a slightly different model of drilling rig may be utilized. This is an example of an instance where it’s helpful to work with a larger, more experienced drilling company, as a larger firm with many years of experience is apt to have alternative drilling rigs and the experience required to get the job done properly.

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

Geotechnical Drilling West Ridge What is Marine Geotechnical Drilling?

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West Ridge, Georgia natives most commonly think of drilling on land when it comes to geotechnical drilling, but larger companies like Amdrill can also offer marine geotechnical drilling. West Ridge natives can use marine geotechnical drilling for a project involving a lake, pond, canal or a project off the coast in the ocean.

We have a number of different barge-mounted and boat-mounted drilling rigs, which can be transported by roadway and then launched from a boat ramp or lowered into the water with a crane if a boat ramp isn’t available. This also allows us to access islands, including undeveloped islands or islands where you’re considering a new construction project, whether it’s in Georgia, Florida, Alabama or off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.

In fact, we have portable amphibious geotechnical drilling rigs that can be used with barges, air boats and traditional boats, even including some fairly small watercraft.

West Ridge geotechnical drilling technicians can perform marine drilling projects for a number of different purposes.

Often, our marine geotechnical drilling technicians are dispatched to perform drilling in an effort to gather information and data that will be used by engineers who are working on a construction project of some kind. This can range from the construction of a stilt home, a dock, a pier, a sea wall, a dam, a levee, or a structure on an undeveloped island. It’s even possible to use geotechnical drilling to gather data about the land if you were to select a location for a man-made island.

Marine drilling can also be used to determine the ideal location for an oil well or natural gas well. But this generally falls outside of the realm of traditional geotechnical drilling. Instead, this type of drilling is usually referred to as exploratory drilling.

Exploratory drilling typically entails a more long-term project, which requires immense, state-of-the-art drilling equipment and significant resources. This is due to the complexity of drilling out in the open ocean — often many, many miles from the shoreline — and the depths involved with drilling for oil or natural gas under the ocean floor. These drilling projects pose an engineering challenge because you must deal with the immense underwater pressures and you typically need to drill to very significant depths to reach these pockets of oil or natural gas.

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

Geotechnical Drilling Wesley Park How Long Will it Take to Perform Geotechnical Drilling?

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Wesley Park, Georgia natives may have lots of questions when it comes to a geotechnical drilling project. One of the most common questions we receive concerns the time frame for the drilling project.

When it comes to geotechnical drilling, Wesley Park natives can generally expect the project to take at least the better part of a day, although some projects go a bit faster, while others can take considerably longer. Let’s examine what impacts the time frame of your geotechnical drilling project.

Wesley Park geotechnical drilling projects can vary significantly in terms of the time frame as there are many different factors that can come into play.
One major factor is the precise location of the geotechnical drilling site. Some sites are very easy to access, while others are a bit more challenging. Some larger drills are mounted on a large truck, so if the area in question is not easily accessible by vehicle, then we may need to use an alternative type of drill or special accommodations may need to be made in order to allow the drill to be maneuvered into position.

Another factor is the type of drilling rig that will be utilized for your project. The set up time frame varies dramatically depending upon the size of the drilling rig and the type of drilling rig.

The ground composition and the depth of the drilling project is another primary point to consider when it comes to how long the project will take. If you’re drilling to a depth of just 10 or 15 feet and you’re drilling into relatively soft soil, then the project generally moves along fairly quickly, whereas other projects may involve drilling to much greater depths of 80 feet or more. A deeper drilling project can take much longer, especially if you’re drilling into stone.

The type of stone that you’re drilling into also has a major impact on the time frame for your geotechnical drilling project. A fairly soft stone such as sandstone or limestone is conducive to swift progress, whereas harder stones such as granite can make for slow going.

You’ll also need to consider the number of drilling sites. In some cases, the client may only require just one drilling site or a small handful of drilling sites, whereas a larger site can see a lot of variance in geology, necessitating many more drilling sites. The number of drilling sites will vary depending upon what information you’re trying to obtain and the size of the site in question.

Due to all of these variables, it’s best to speak with one of Amdrill’s experts to determine the projected time frame for your Wesley Park drilling 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 Tyrone What Types of Vehicles Are Used in Geotechnical Drilling?

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Tyrone, Georgia natives often assume that a geotechnical drilling rig is a standalone device something akin to the iconic oil drilling rigs that can be seen pumping away in oil wells in Texas and other areas of the American west.

While there are some stand-alone drilling rigs in utilization for geotechnical drilling projects, these are generally smaller in size to allow for portability. Unlike a Texan oil well, which is a large structure that’s constructed in place and left on the well site for many months or even years, it’s simply not practical to assemble and disassemble large geotechnical drilling rigs in this way. An oil well drilling rig serves a very different purpose when compared to geotechnical drilling rigs. Oil drilling rigs are designed to extract resources from the earth on a long term basis, whereas geotechnical rigs are designed to perform short term projects, primarily the extraction of soil, sediment and rock samples, in addition to gathering data that is used by engineers and developers.

In fact, some of our drilling rigs visit multiple locations in a single day. And it’s not uncommon for a drilling rig to be moved around to different spots on a single site or property over the course of the project.

For these reasons, it’s important that geotechnical drilling rigs are designed to be portable and often, this involves mounting the rig on a vehicle for easy transport and maneuvering. When performing geotechnical drilling, Tyrone area clients may see us using drilling rigs mounted on a number of different vehicle types.

What Kinds of Vehicles Does Amdrill Use for Geotechnical Drilling?

Tyrone geotechnical drilling technicians from Amdrill are trained to utilize many different types of drilling rigs, mounted on a variety of vehicles, including:

  • Rubber tire ATVs
  • Trucks
  • Spud barges
  • Amphibious vehicles
  • Large go-track rigs (with tracks similar to a snow mobile or tank)
  • Remote-controlled geo-probe rigs with a tank-like track system

Additionally, our marine drilling rigs can be mounted and/or transported on a range of different boats and watercraft, ranging from a barge, to a variety of different boats and even air boats, which are ideal for accessing swampy areas.

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

Geotechnical Drilling Porters Ridge How Can Municipal Projects Benefit from Geotechnical Drilling?

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Porters Ridge, Georgia natives probably think of construction projects when they think of geotechnical drilling and while many drilling projects are performed as part of a construction or repair project, there are many other types of projects that can benefit from geotechnical drilling, including municipal projects and other engineering projects.

Whether you’re designing and engineering a new roadway, building a new structure or are in the midst of a flooding remediation project, you may benefit from geotechnical drilling. Porters Ridge developers, engineers and municipalities can glean lots of important data from a drilling project, from information on the ground density, water table, and soil saturation, to the quality of the underlying bedrock or the integrity of a levee or dam. So let’s explore how geotechnical drilling can benefit your project!

What Information Can You Get from Geotechnical Drilling?

Porters Ridge geotechnical drilling technicians can utilize a number of different types of drilling rigs, drill bits and drilling techniques to gather vital data from a site.

For a roadway project, drilling can be used to evaluate the stability of the ground and its propensity for shifting, which can cause costly damage the roadway or even cause accidents.  For many roadway construction projects, large sections of stone must be blasted away. Geotechnical drilling can identify the type of stone, its integrity and its depth. The site can also be evaluated for its integrity if you’re constructing large highway noise barriers.

In cases where an area has been filled in or built up with earth, such as in the case of a levee or a hill created to prevent flooding in a particular area, geotechnical drilling can be used to evaluate the integrity and the degree of compaction. In the case of a levee, dam, wetlands or an area that’s prone to flooding, you can also gain valuable insight into the water table and the amount of groundwater that’s present.

Geotechnical drilling is also helpful for identifying areas of contamination. So if a city was attempting to determine if a particular area is in need of soil contamination remediation, our geotechnical drilling technicians could extract samples that could be sent out for testing.

AmDrill also has experience with marine drilling projects – including projects on rivers, lakes, and the ocean and in wetlands – and more challenging drilling projects. This includes drilling inside existing structures, including homes, businesses, warehouses and other buildings.

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

Geotechnical Drilling Kenwood Can You Prevent a Sinkhole With Geotechnical Drilling?

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Kenwood, Georgia natives are a bit less prone to sinkholes when compared to residents further south in Florida, where the sandy soil and limestone bedrock make for geologic conditions that are more conducive to sinkhole formation. That said, it is possible to see a sinkhole form virtually anywhere in the country. So it’s natural to wonder if you can prevent a sinkhole from forming. With geotechnical drilling, Kenwood property owners can gain useful insight that can effectively be used to identify potential sinkhole sites and initiate sinkhole remediation efforts.

How Do You Find a Sinkhole With Geotechnical Drilling?

Kenwood geotechnical drilling efforts can be used to identify the location of underground voids which can ultimately collapse, resulting in the formation of a sinkhole. These underground voids form when the rock is eaten away by acidic water. In areas of the world that are more geologically active, you can see underground voids which were once lava tubes.

When drilling, the drill operator continually monitors instrumentation which provides insight into the density and the amount of resistance that the drill bit is encountering. When you hit an underground void, the instrumentation clearly indicates this because there is a lack of resistance on the drill bit. Some sinkholes are found by chance while others are found as the result of an investigation that’s initiated due to signs of an impending sinkhole. These signs can include sinking and shifting ground and damage to structures that suggests sinking, particularly on one side or corner of the structure.

The precise dimensions of the sinkhole can be confirmed using technology such as ground penetrating radar.

Once an underground void – a potential sinkhole site – is discovered, geotechnical drilling crews can utilize their equipment to help with the sinkhole remediation process.

There are a few different options when a possible sinkhole site is discovered. One option is to drill into the void and pump in a concrete filler that will harden and prevent a catastrophic collapse. This option is usually only suitable for small or medium sized voids. The amount of material required to fill in the void may make this option unrealistic for large cavity.

Another option is to reinforce the structure that’s situated atop the sinkhole, so if a collapse does occur, the building will remain standing. This option also involves drilling, as you must drill into the bedrock, inserting rods in the stone. These rods are affixed to the structure, providing stability in much of the same way stilts provide stability to a stilt home on the coast.

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

Geotechnical Drilling Fayetteville What is Vibracore Sampling in Geotechnical Drilling?

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Fayetteville, Georgia natives may have heard the term “Vibracore sampling” or simply “Vibracoring.” This is a very unique type of geotechnical drilling. Fayetteville geotechnical drilling projects are less likely to involve this type of drilling, which is used for wetlands and various marine drilling sites. But a number of our Fayetteville clients are developers who oversee projects in other regions of the state, including coastal projects and projects involving wetlands, which often utilize Vibracore sampling.

What is Vibracore Geotechnical Drilling?

Fayetteville geotechnical drilling technicians from Amdrill use a special type of drilling rig called a Rossfelder P-3 to collect sediment samples using Vibracore sampling techniques in areas with highly saturated soil, including underwater drilling sites, swamps, wetlands and even areas that are flooded.

Also called Vibracoring, this unique and efficient type of drilling is designed to extract long core samples of saturated sediment and the underlying earth. A core sample is a vertical column of earth that is extracted inside a tube. The tube is then sent out for testing and analysis. Core samples are preferred for many types of testing because the distinct sediment and other earth layers remain distinct and the degree of compaction and water content are largely preserved.

Vibracore sampling is a great alternative to other methods, like auguring, rotary drilling and traditional coring techniques, which either disturb the sediment and soil layers or are just impractical in highly saturated soil. Vibracore sampling also allows you to achieve deep penetration in a single deployment, whereas other drilling techniques may not allow you to reach the desired depth in one go.

Vibracoring is useful for many different projects. Core sample analysis can be used to evaluate the environmental conditions in a wetlands environment, a man-made water body like a canal, a river or in another marine environment. The core samples can even be used to identify the extent of contamination in these areas.

Core samples can also provide some useful information for developers and engineers who are seeking to construct some sort of structure in a water-saturated region. Vibracoring can provide insight into the depth and degree of the water saturation and when paired with other geotechnical drilling measures, you can determine the integrity of the underlying bedrock. The integrity of the underlying bedrock can be relevant if the area is deeply saturated, with a high water table. These conditions can make it impossible to achieve sufficient stability without accessing the bedrock.

Vibracoring can be performed from a barge, a boat-mounted drilling rig, or via another type of watercraft.

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

'>Geotechnical Drilling Columbus Can You Drill Through the Earth's Crust With Geotechnical Drilling?

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Columbus Georgia natives often wonder about how deep you can drill with a geotechnical drilling project. Some may even be curious as to whether you can drill through the Earth’s crust. While human technology has not yet progressed to a point where we can penetrate the entire Earth’s crust, we can drill to some very significant depths, although not all of these super deep drilling projects involve geotechnical drilling. Columbus drilling projects typically involve far less dramatic depths, depending upon the objective and what type of data you’re attempting to glean from the drilling operation.

Columbus geotechnical drilling technicians will take a slightly different approach to your drilling project, depending upon factors such as the type of data you’re seeking to gather from the drilling project and the precise geology of the drilling site.

Most geotechnical drilling projects involve drilling to depths of anywhere from just 10 or 15 feet to 80 to 100 feet. But there are some large drilling rigs that can drill thousands of feet into the ground, although these deeper drilling projects are less common. The latter type of drilling venture is more typical of a geo-exploration project, which is usually performed by a companies that is seeking to locate natural resources such as oil, natural gas deposits, or even specific minerals or metals that can be mined.

These deeper drilling projects are more complex and time-consuming, but the reward can be great as a crude oil well or a mine for salt, metals or gemstones can yield millions or even billions in profit.  In Russia, the Kola Superdeep Borehole was drilled to a depth of 7.5 miles. Drilled in 1970, this borehole still holds the record as the world’s deepest drilling project.

The world’s deepest mine shaft is in a South African gold mine, which dips approximately 2.5 miles beneath the surface.

Inside the South African gold mine, the temperature of the stone walls is a scalding 140 degrees Fahrenheit and the mine is at constant risk of collapse due to the weight of the ground above. This illustrates just how complex these deep drilling and mining projects can be, as you must deal with not only incredible depths, but also extreme pressures and heat.

Notably, neither of these projects has fully penetrated the Earth’s crust. The crust can vary in depth from approximately three miles in depth (especially in some regions that underlay the oceans) to over 125 miles in depth.

If drills were to penetrate through the Earth’s crust, they would hit the mantle, which is comprised of softer stone that’s similar to the consistency of hot asphalt. The hot stone moves in circular convection currents, which are believed to be responsible for plate tectonic movement.

The mantle is around 1,800 miles thick in most regions and this portion accounts for nearly 85% of the planet’s total volume. Beneath the mantle is the outer core, which encloses the inner core. Both sections of the core are hot enough to be liquid, but the extreme pressures prevent the rock from taking true liquid form.

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

 

Geotechnical Drilling Ashley Park How Deep Can You Drill With Geotechnical Drilling?

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Ashley Park natives often wonder about how deep you can drill into the ground as part of a project involving geotechnical drilling. Ashley Park drilling crews will consider a number of different factors when overseeing a drilling project, including the type of information and data that’s sought, the ground conditions at the location and the type of drill that’s used to perform the drilling.

Ashley Park drilling projects can vary in terms of the objective. Some are designed to evaluate the ground prior to building a new structure, while others are designed to determine the integrity of the underlying bedrock or even identify an underground void that could potentially collapse into a sinkhole.

The variables for a drilling project can include:

  • The type of information you’re seeking as part of the drilling project
  • The type of drill and drill bit that is being utilized
  • The subsurface conditions, including the soil and bedrock conditions

With a smaller drill that’s drilling into hard, dense clay rich soil, the maximum depth may be just 7 or 8 feet, whereas a larger drill that’s drilling into softer, sandier soil may be able to reach depths of 80 feet or more.
The required drilling depth varies depending upon what type of information you’re seeking at a particular site. In many cases, the vital information you’re seeking can be obtained by drilling to a depth of just 15 or 20 feet, while other projects may require a much deeper drilling project.

Overall, humans have not drilled very far in terms of depth. In fact, human drilling projects have never fully penetrated the Earth’s crust to reach the mantle. The deepest drilling project took place in 1970 on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Known as the Kola Super-deep Borehole, drills reached a depth of 12 kilometers or 7.5 miles. Although it was created over 45 years ago, the Kola Super-deep Borehole still holds the record for being the deepest drill hole ever bored on the planet Earth.

The deepest mine on Earth is a gold mine in South Africa, which is approximately 2.5 miles deep.

The thickness of the Earth’s crust varies quite dramatically depending upon location. In the ocean (which, at its deepest point, is over 6 miles deep), the Earth’s crust can range in thickness from 3 to 6 miles, whereas in areas of landmass, the crust can range from a depth of anywhere from 20 to 30 miles.

Miles above sea level.

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