Wheeler Site Investigation

This is the most common drilling method used for geotechnical site or ground investigations. Cable Percussion drilling uses a mobile rig, driven by a diesel engine and a tripod derrick of about 7m height. The derrick folds down so that the rig can be towed by a four-wheel drive vehicle.

This is the same drilling method as a full-size Cable percussive rig, but the rig can be broken down into parts for the use of jobs with tight access and low headroom, as the legs and mast are telescopic so the height can be adjusted.

Windowless sampling involves the use of a small tracked drilling rig that has a drop hammer to drive in sampling tubes. Depth is achieved by successively driving tubes into the ground, via extension rods from the base of the hole made by the preceding tube.

This is a lightweight windowless sample rig that can be broken down to allow easy access where a normal track rig cannot access.

This type of testing involves the use of the same small tracked drilling rig used for windowless sampling. Dynamic Probing involves the driving of a metal cone into the ground via a series of steel rods. These rods are driven from the surface by a hammer system that lifts and drops a 64kg hammer onto the top of the rods through a set fall, thus ensuring a consistent energy input.

Concrete coring is a method of removing hard standing such as reinforced concrete. It uses a large diamond-tipped core barrel to drill through the hard top for easy and clean removal. This normally takes place prior to drilling investigation which takes place on hard standing.