The Inner Workings of Geotechnical Drilling | The Driller

The Inner Workings of Geotechnical Drilling Column Helps Drillers, Consultants Improve Drilling Operations Geotechnical drilling is a compelling field. With The Underground Network, we aim to help drillers, assistant drillers, consultants and others navigate its complexities. Welcome to The Underground Network, a new column designed unravel the inner workings of geotechnical drilling. I aim to provide candid, constructive insights for experienced drillers, assistant drillers just starting out and environmental consultants alike. I hope to make this column a must-read for enhancing your knowledge and improving your drilling operations. Why should you read The Underground Network? In this first edition, I outline the topics I plan to cover and offer a couple of starter bits of advice. Practical Techniques and Tips: Geotechnical drilling is a compelling field, and it’s important to stay up-to-date on new techniques and tips that can improve your everyday drilling efficiency onsite. I can provide practical insights, proven approaches and fresh ideas you can apply directly to your everyday work onsite. These tips can complement your existing skills, minimize downtime and ultimately improve the outcomes of your client’s projects. What kind of tips? How about this: Looking to be a better driller? Baroid IDP has conducted drilling fluid trainings for over 50 years, offering field and classroom seminars and demonstrations for rig personnel, contractors, engineers, geologists and regulatory personnel. These seminars, held annually in Houston, consist of five-day courses covering basic drilling fluids technology as well as operational applications such as water well drilling, diamond coring for minerals exploration and construction-trenchless technology. I can guide you through the sign-up process. Industry Updates and News: Success in our drilling industry requires you to stay informed about the latest trends and developments. I plan to deliver important industry updates, including new technologies, drilling rig advancements and regulatory changes. By [...]

How vulnerable are dams in Northeast Ohio?

After heavy rainfall overwhelmed dams in Michigan, are dams in Northeast Ohio at risk? CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Experts described the flooding in Midland, Mich. as a 500-year event, caused by two dams in the area that failed. In Northeast Ohio, water surrounds the northern coast, along with the Cuyahoga River and other lakes and tributaries. So how vulnerable is the area to catastrophic flooding? Unlike Michigan, Northeast Ohio doesn’t have hydroelectric dams, which failed leading to destructive flooding. Our area does have smaller barriers and levees that keep water off land. But there are several low lying areas that are prone to flooding. Dr. Bill Yu is a civil engineering professor at Case Western Reserve University. He says there are around 1,400 “high hazard” dams in Ohio, 40 to 50 of those are in Northeast Ohio, but there are different types of dams built for different purposes. But there are some land similarities with both Michigan and Ohio. “Ohio is located in an area similar to Michigan...which means we have an abundant amount of water supply. And because the course of the flood is to have lots of raining and lots of water and no retention for the water to go.” Dr. Yu says he doesn’t foresee Northeast Ohio having any large scale flooding. But he cautions, that anything could happen. “The magnitude of flood, just maybe not comparable to what we see right now. So definitely it can be dealt with engineer, managers and also management measures.” Source: How vulnerable are dams in Northeast Ohio?

Geotechnical Testing happening for U.S. 51 Ohio River Cairo Bridge Replacement Project in Kentucky

  The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) announced last week that geotechnical testing for the project was to start at the end of June. The testing includes field work and drilling in the river upstream from the existing bridge. According to the release, crews are driling and testing soil samples from ground level to as deep as 400 feet below the riverbed. Drilling is taking place 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until the work is complete. “Because of the area’s complex river conditions, a lift boat will be used to minimize the impact on passing Ohio River towboat traffic,” the release stated. “The geotechnical work is expected to take a couple of months, but the schedule is dependent on river levels. The geotechnical testing will provide a better analysis of the soils under the river and existing geological conditions, which will give engineers the information necessary to design the foundations for a new bridge.” The work will have no impact on vehicle traffic crossing the existing bridge. The geotechnical work comes as the U.S. 51 Bridge Project Team has scheduled a meeting to update the public on planning for construction of a new bridge. Among other things, the team plans to share the bridge design type for the new structure that could start construction in 2028. Photos and display materials will be available online at https://us51bridge.com/ after the public meeting. The existing U.S. 51 Ohio River ‘Cairo’ Bridge serves as a north-south connector for U.S. 51 and an east-west transportation corridor for U.S. 60 and U.S. 62. The bridge carries about 5,400 vehicles per day between Kentucky and Illinois. About 43 percent of the traffic is commercial trucks. The bridge crosses the Ohio River at navigation mile point 980.4 and carries U.S. 51, U.S. 60, and U.S. 62 [...]

Streets & Drainage Update: Drilling for Geotechnical Borings – Lakesider Ohio News

The first phase of the Lakeside Streets and Drainage Project begins in fall 2024. To plan engineering work and street construction, drilling for geotechnical borings on east Lakeside will start in late March. Geotechnical boring is a process that involves drilling into the soil and evaluating the soil, rock, groundwater and overall conditions at a given depth and location. We are determining how close rock is to the pavement surface and if it could impact the project design. The project designer, Contractors Design Engineering (CDE), selected 32 locations for borings where they are concerned that rock might impact their design. “There are consistent places on the north-south streets where there’s a hump in the road that causes water to drain from the north to the south,” Seling said. “If they’re going to cut that knob down, we need to know how close the rock is to help determine if the road can be lowered to improve drainage or if the rock would substantially increase the construction cost. We can also alert the contractor about the depth of rock ahead of time so they can base their proposed cost on that situation to avoid cost increases during construction.” Geotechnical drilling Ohio contractor will provide the service. They will field stake test locations and utilities will be cleared by the Ohio Utilities Protection Service. Wertz will bore holes in the pavement, then restore them by backfilling with spoils and/or compacted stone to within 12-inches of the surface and then backfilled with asphalt cold patch to grade. The plan is to drill up to 5 feet unless they hit rock first. It will take up to three days to complete the work. Source: Streets & Drainage Update: Drilling for Geotechnical Borings - Lakesider News

700 – Geotechnical Exploration Reports | Ohio Department of Transportation

Source: 700 - Geotechnical Exploration Reports | Ohio Department of Transportation 701 General 702 Geotechnical Profile - Roadway 703 Geotechnical Profile - [Structure] 704 Geotechnical Profile - [Geohazard] 705 Geotechnical Design Memorandum 706 Report of Geotechnical Exploration, Findings and Recommendations 707 Method of Payment 701 General Provide all geotechnical information as required to complete the project planning and design in accordance with the Project Development Process, or as directed by ODOT. Provide an electronic copy of all geotechnical submissions to the District Geotechnical Engineer. Clearly identify on every submission (reports, plan drawings, etc.), the geotechnical specification (title and date) under which the geotechnical work was contracted and performed. Label the first complete version of all documents being submitted as “draft”. Subsequent to ODOT review and approval, submit a complete version of the document, revised as necessary, and label “final”. Submit electronic copies of all final Geotechnical Exploration plan sheets in accordance with Location & Design Manual Volume 3, Section 1201. Geotechnical Exploration plan sheets include Geotechnical Profile – Roadway sheets, Geotechnical Profile – Structure sheets, and Geotechnical Profile – Geohazard sheets. When submitting the final Geotechnical Exploration plan sheets, also submit final boring data in electronic format for inclusion in the ODOT Geotechnical Data Management System (GeoMS). All boring data shall be compliant with the Data Interchange for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists (DIGGS) standard. Logs prepared using the latest ODOT gINT library will meet this requirement. Submittal of gINT project files that can then be successfully auto-converted to DIGGS format by ODOT is acceptable. Additional information on DIGGS can be found online. Provide a black & white pdf file of all Geotechnical Profile sheets, except provide color versions of sheets presenting ODOT Rock Core Photograph Report pages. See Section 702.6.5 and Appendices C and D for additional information.

Using Torque Testing for Better Designs

Source: Using Torque Testing for Better Designs All Engineers can relate to an experience we’ve had where what we designed was not how it turned out in “the real world”. Rarely does a project end up being exactly as what we put down on paper. Soil testing for foundation supports is no exception and unfortunately these differences almost never end on the positive side of a cost estimate. One way to mitigate those differences is to use a testing process which directly relates with the type of foundation being used. For helical piles, while there are well-established trends between ASTM D1586 N60 blow count N values and potential pile length, even the slightest variations in testing methods and/or soil description can create significant differences in the “design” versus “reality”. The more accurate method for a helical pile foundation design would be to do actual torque tests (a.k.a. helical probe tests) at the site. While most designs initially begin with a Geotechnical Report including boring logs, for helical piles using an actual torque test prior to start of work instead will provide a much more accurate picture of soil capacity and allow for a finite design. Even with boring logs and N60 blow counts being used for preliminary designs, a torque test can be used to “fine-tune” the foundation design. Many owners might think that the additional cost associated with a site torque test, albeit nominal, is not needed. However, time and time again, the small additional cost has proven to save substantial money on the foundation project by allowing the engineer to confirm and enhance their foundation design. In addition, site torque tests can be incorporated directly into a design created in the HeliCAP® v3.0 Helical Capacity Design software to provide real time updates to designs giving better solutions with more confidence. Adding actual [...]

Drilling in Southwest Indiana at a 15-year peak

Indiana State officials say Southwest Indiana is experiencing a boom in oil and gas exploration, with a peak number of wells drilled over the past 15 years. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas released a report earlier this week that says oil and gas wells are being drilled in Indiana "At a pace that hasn't been seen for at least 15 years," according to Herschel McDivitt, director of the DNR Division of Oil and Gas. DNR officials say the division issued more than 450 drilling permits in 2006, a number that McDivitt expects to steadily increase during the next several years, due to the anticipated higher prices for crude oil and natural gas. "This is an exciting time to be in the oil and gas business," McDivitt said in a press release announcing the news. "While much of the interest is in drilling for crude oil, a growing number of wells are being drilled for natural gas, especially in the southwestern part of Indiana where companies are actively developing wells." McDivitt acknowledged that along with the increase in drilling applications has come a significant number of questions from landowners who have been approached by companies seeking to obtain leases from the landowners allowing them to drill on their properties. "Many landowners are unfamiliar with the process of leasing their land for oil and gas and are seeking more information about oil and gas operations and looking to find answers to their questions," McDivitt said. DNR has also made some changes in the Division of Oil and Gas's organizational structure. Jim AmRhein will be responsible for all inspections and compliance- related functions within the division's program. Previously, AmRhein was in charge of all permitting functions, as well as inspections and enforcement duties in central and northern [...]

Go to Top