Geotechnical Drilling Kushla Drilling in Wetlands – The Basics of Geotechnical Drilling
Geotechnical drilling technicians Kushla, Alabama routinely get dispatched to areas on the shore of rivers, Mobile Bay and other waterways that wind through this region of the Gulf Coast. In fact, this area is home to lots of wetlands, which are challenging environments for any sort of drilling, excavation or building because the ground is soft and waterlogged. Even standing in wetlands is virtually impossible as the ground is often comprised of many feet of soft mud and plant material.
So why would you want to perform geotechnical drilling in wetlands? And how is it possible to drill in these areas? Well, that’s exactly what we’ll explore in today’s article from Amdrill.
Why Would You Go to the Wetlands to Perform Geotechnical Drilling?
Geotechnical drilling technicians Kushla may be dispatched to a wetlands area to perform a drilling operation as part of one of any number of different projects. Wetlands ecosystems are very unique and sensitive, but due to inaccessibility, many of these wetlands are in remote, hard to access areas. This remoteness makes wetlands prime locations for dumping of illegal materials and even chemicals, which can result in contamination that may have a catastrophic effect on the plants and animals in the area.
What’s more, contaminants tend to travel quickly through water and waterlogged soil, so any contamination in an adjacent area can quickly spread. For this reason, some geotechnical drilling efforts involve evaluating an area to determine the extent and severity of the contamination in order to plan for remediation and clean-up efforts.
Understanding the depth of the water table – the level where the ground water is situated – is important too, particularly when it comes to building structures near wetlands. So the area may be evaluated to determine the depth and location of the water table.
It’s also not uncommon to see flooding in wetlands and in the areas surrounding rivers and even the shoreline. So to prevent flooding, many property owners and even entire municipalities will build levees and other man made structures that serve to contain flooding and limit damage to nearby areas. In the case of an existing levee or earthen structure, you may need to perform geotechnical drilling to determine how its standing up to the elements. If the soil is saturated beyond a certain point, it can begin to fail.
There are a number of geotechnical drilling projects that may be performed in wetlands, or near other bodies of water such as rivers and Mobile Bay. Amdrill’s team has a variety of vehicles used to transport and carry our drilling rigs, including amphibious vehicles, boats and barges. So we are well-prepared to take on any environment, no matter how challenging!
*Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Amdrill Inc*
