Drilling Technologies in
Today’s Environmental
& Geotechnical Market
May 26th 2016
James McCombs
National Key Account Manger
Many Types of Drilling
Technologies are Available Today
• GeoProbe® / Direct Push Technology (DPT)
• Auger Drill (Solid and Hollow-Stem)
• Bucket Augers
• Rotary Drills:
i. Direct Air
ii. Direct Conventional Mud
iii. Reverse Circulation
iv. Dual Rotary (w/various casing advancing
systems)
v. Down Hole Hammer (DTH)
vi. Water Hammer
vii. Air Rotary Casing Hammer
• Sonic Drills
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What to Consider When Deciding on
the Right Drill for your Project
• Geology and the Local Subsurface Site Conditions
• Site Access
• Cost of the Waste Disposal As a Result of Drilling (IDW)
• Diameter and Depth Considerations
• Economics Based on the Project as a Whole (Office/Field/Subs)
• Is the Drill Compatible with Collecting the Samples Required
• Flexibility to Accommodate Changes During Exploration
To Outline a Few……..
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Many of these Styles are
Relatively Well Know
Therefore:
Let’s Focus on Sonic Drilling
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What Is Sonic Drilling?
Sonic Drilling [′sän·ik ′dril·iŋ]:
Sonic drilling is method of advancing into material
(subsurface) by the mechanics of resonating a series of
connected steel drill pipes using a highly specialized
sonic drilling head as the energy source. The resonating
drill pipe fluidizes the adjacent formation to overcome the
borehole friction.
***Compared to
conventional drilling –
Sonic is Low Force
and Low Torque
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Mechanics of the
Sonic Drilling
Air-Spring
Head Connection
Typically Resonates at 50-150
Hz (Cycles per Second)
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Why is it called SONIC?
Sonic Drilling
VS.
Hammering /
Pile Driving
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Frequency vs Amplitude
The Two Key Elements of the Sonic Casing
Advancement System
Distance Peak to Trough
Amplitude
Frequency
Distance Peak to Peak
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Frequency Scribed on Pipe
Why does this matter?
Not all sonic drills are the same:
Some are Full Range High Frequency / Low Amplitude -- Some are High
Amplitude / Low Frequency -- Some are Fixed Frequency
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Mechanics of the Full Sonic Drill Rig
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How is the Hole Advanced?
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Sonic Tooling Sizes
• Casing Sizes - 5,6,7,8,9,10, and 12 inch
• Sample Sizes – 3,4,5,6,7 and 8 inch
Depths are dependent upon
casing size and formations.
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Some of the Benefits…
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Samples and Rig Platforms
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Sample Quality Is Important
Disturbance Rind on
Outside
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Sample Quality Is Important
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More Soil Cores…
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More Soil Cores
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Not Just Quality Samples,
But Very Straight Samples
Concrete Cutoff Wall Core
Ability to core and
stay within 1-2%
borehole deviation
or less.
Seam between
cut-off wall panels
maintained over
200’ BGS
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Borehole Deviation
TOR = ~100’ BGS X= 0.20%
Rock Dip =~45- Y = 0.44%
Degrees Result = 0.48%
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Truck Sonic Drills
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ATV Rubber Tracked Sonic
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Spider Sonic – Limited Access
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Mini Sonic – Limited Access
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Barge Platform Access
Archival Sediment Tubes
for Dredge Material
Characterization
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Barge Platform
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Barge Platform
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Questions?
James McCombs
Key Accounts Manager
1010 Greene St - Marietta, OH 45750
Main 740.373.3970
Mobile 740.350.6611
JMcCombs@[Link]
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