1. What is environmental and geotechnical drilling?

Answer: Environmental and geotechnical drilling involves subsurface investigation using drilling techniques to collect soil, rock, groundwater, and gas samples. Environmental drilling is focused on detecting contamination and monitoring environmental conditions, while geotechnical drilling evaluates soil and rock properties for construction and engineering design.

2. What’s the difference between environmental and geotechnical drilling?

Answer: Environmental drilling is typically conducted to assess contamination levels, install monitoring wells, or support site remediation. Geotechnical drilling focuses on understanding soil and rock strength, composition, and behavior for design and construction purposes.

3. What types of drilling methods do you use?

Answer: We offer a range of drilling methods including hollow-stem auger, and coring. The choice depends on site conditions, project goals, and depth requirements.

4. What kinds of projects require geotechnical or environmental drilling?

Answer: Projects such as commercial and residential development, road construction, environmental site assessments (Phase I/II ESAs), remediation, and landfill monitoring typically require drilling services.

5. How deep can you drill?

Answer: Drilling depth depends on the method and soil conditions but typically ranges from a few feet to several hundred feet. Sonic and rotary methods can reach over 1,000 feet if needed.

6. How long does a typical drilling project take?

Answer: Small projects may take just 1–2 days, while larger or more complex jobs can last several weeks. Factors include number of borings, depth, site conditions, and accessibility.

7. Do you provide both drilling and sampling services?

Answer: Yes, we provide comprehensive drilling and sampling services, including soil, groundwater, soil gas, and rock core collection. We also assist in lab coordination for testing.

8. Why is environmental drilling necessary?

Answer: Environmental drilling helps identify and monitor contaminants in soil and groundwater. It supports regulatory compliance, risk assessment, and cleanup efforts on impacted sites.

9. What contaminants can be detected through environmental drilling?

Answer: Depending on sampling and lab analysis, we can detect petroleum hydrocarbons, VOCs, SVOCs, metals, PFAS, pesticides, and other regulated or hazardous substances.

10. What are soil vapor probes and how are they used?

Answer: Soil vapor probes are small-diameter sampling points installed to collect soil gas for vapor intrusion studies or subsurface gas investigations. They're often used near buildings or in brownfield redevelopment.

11. Can you install groundwater monitoring wells?

Answer: Yes, we install temporary and permanent groundwater monitoring wells, including nested wells and deep-well installations, per state and federal regulations.

12. What is the purpose of geotechnical drilling?

Answer: Geotechnical drilling provides essential data on subsurface conditions such as soil type, bearing capacity, groundwater levels, and rock quality for design and engineering assessments.

13. What information can be obtained from geotechnical borings?

Answer: Information includes soil stratigraphy, water table elevation, shear strength, compressibility, density, and potential for settlement or liquefaction.

14. What is SPT (Standard Penetration Test) and do you perform it?

Answer: Yes, we perform SPT. It's a common in-situ test used during boring to evaluate soil density and strength, using a split-spoon sampler and a standard hammer.

15. Can you provide core samples for engineering analysis?

Answer: Yes, we offer continuous and discrete core sampling using split-barrel, Shelby tubes, or rotary core drilling depending on the project requirements.

16. Do you perform lab testing on collected samples?

Answer: We coordinate with certified geotechnical and environmental laboratories for sample analysis, including grain-size distribution, Atterberg limits, permeability, and chemical testing.

17. How is subsurface data used in construction or design?

Answer: Engineers use drilling data to design foundations, retaining walls, pavement systems, and underground utilities, ensuring stability, durability, and safety of structures.

18. What geotechnical equipment do you use?

Answer: Equipment includes truck-mounted and track-mounted drill rigs, SPT hammers, automatic drop hammers, CPT probes, B-vane and N-vane as well as a variety of samplers and casing systems.

19. What site access requirements do you need for drilling rigs?

Answer: We need enough clearance for rig setup and safe operations—typically 8–10 feet wide for track rigs and 12–14 feet for truck rigs. We can also access tight or remote areas using portable equipment.

20. What kind of site restoration do you perform after drilling?

Answer: We backfill boreholes, remove cuttings, restore surface materials (concrete/asphalt/soil), and reseed as needed. For monitoring wells, we secure and label them per regulatory requirements.

21. How do you price your drilling services?

Answer: Pricing is based on factors like drilling method, depth, number of borings, mobilization, and site access. We offer lump-sum or time-and-material quotes depending on project scope.

22. Do you charge by the foot, by the hour, or per day?

Answer: We offer flexible pricing: per-foot for typical drilling, daily rates for large projects, or hourly rates for troubleshooting or limited-scope work.