Application Stories  

| Previous Stories

Bothell, Washington: Boart Longyear's environmental drilling division demonstrated sonic drilling at Slope Indicator, drilling a 100 foot borehole and installing QC inclinometer casing .

Sonic drilling is a technique that advances the drill string and drill casing by vibration. A special drill head directs vibrations (50 to 150 hertz) down the drill string. A very slow rotation is added when necessary.

The advantages of sonic drilling are superior drilling speed, good recovery of undisturbed, large diameter core samples, significant reduction of derived waste (80% reduction), and uniform boreholes with a minimum of drift.

Boart Longyear fields 13 sonic drill rigs in the US. The rigs can provide three inch cores to a depth of 500 feet (the record is 685 feet). Core diameters to 10 inches are possible at shallower depths.

Slope Indicator will use the new inclinometer installation for testing instruments and training users.

Previous Stories