Dover Geotechnical Drilling The Workings of Geotechnical Drilling

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Dover developers and builders can turn to a geotechnical drilling firm to acquire important information about a building site, enabling engineers to develop a site plan that will allow for long-term stability and safety.

Geotechnical drilling is a cost-effective option that can be completed in a matter of a day or two for a fairly small site.

Why Use Geotechnical Drilling?

Dover geotechnical drilling service providers will arrive on-site with portable drilling rigs that will be moved to various positions throughout the site to extract core samples. A core sample is a long tube containing a vertical column of earth and stone. Cores are extracted from numerous areas of the site to provide a more comprehensive view of what lies beneath the surface.

After the cores are collected, they’re shipped to a laboratory where they undergo comprehensive analysis and testing in order to evaluate the stability and composition of the ground. The lab technicians will evaluate and test to determine a few important properties, including:

  • The composition of each layer;
  • The depth of the various layers;
  • The strength of the underlying stone;
  • The compaction of the soil;
  • The density of the stone and soil; and
  • The water content of each layer.

Those are just a few of the properties that will be analyzed in the laboratory.  Using this information, a determination can be made about the quality of the earth and whether it will be sufficiently stable to support the planned structure.

In some cases, the geotechnical drilling operation may reveal the presence of an underground cavity or void. These voids are potentially deadly because they can collapse, causing a sinkhole. Florida is especially vulnerable to sinkholes due to the limestone bedrock, which can dissolve when exposed to acid.

Acid is found in the soil and in acid rain, so heavy rainfall can seep down through the sandy soil, bringing the acid rain and acid from the soils down to the limestone layer, where it dissolves, forming a void. Remediation efforts can render the void a non-threat. This is achieved by pumping concrete down into the void, filling the cavity so it cannot collapse in the future.  This is another benefit of geotechnical drilling.

Dover developers tend to prefer geotechnical drilling over other options due to the speed with which it can be completed and the cost-effectiveness. If a structure is built atop unstable ground, sinking and shifting may occur, resulting in serious or even catastrophic structural damage.

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