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ETTL News & Views |
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ETTL News & Views |
| Contents • I-49• Doug's Corner • Shuffler & UT Tyler • Environment • Avalon Ldfl • US-69 • Crawfish • Happy End• NTC-College • ETTL Web Site |
| A Typical ETTL Contract Drilling Project TAKING GEOTECHNICAL SAMPLES ALONG US 69 NORTH OF MINEOLA, TEXAS |
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| The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) recently undertook a project to widen US 69 from two to four lanes in a stretch totaling 12 miles just north of the city of Mineola, Texas. TxDOT retained the engineering firm of Raba-Kistner (R-K), which is headquartered in San Antonio, to conduct a needed geotechnical study along the selected stretch; and R-K in turn called upon ETTL to carry out all required drilling and sampling of the subsurface. As we've noted many times before in our newsletters, ETTL's Environmental & Geotechnical Drilling Division has a full complement of state-of-the-art drilling rigs and associated mobile equipment, plus a highly experienced team for both environmental and geotechnical projects.
When the project started, we drove up to Mineola (about 30 miles north of Tyler) on a blisteringly hot day to see what was going on. We found ETTL's drilling team, which was being directed by Senior Driller Harold (Doug) Hinds, making 60-ft deep bridge borings at an intersection on US 69 where an overpass is scheduled to be built. Four such borings were to be drilled, with samples taken every 5 ft of depth. The rig being used to make these borings was ETTL's Mobile B-61 HDX, shown above (and below at left and center). Doug Hinds, in the red vest, was handling the rig's controls. With some 27 years of drilling experience, he is highly familiar with all phases of geotechnical and environmental drilling and sampling procedures, including installing both piezometers and monitoring wells to depths of 150 ft in a variety of geologic formations. The man in the yellow vest in the left-hand photo below is Raba-Kistner geologist Scott Anderwald, waiting to receive a sample and log it in. |
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| The center photo above is typical of what ETTL brings to projects of this type: the supply truck in the foreground; a tank-carrying truck amply supplied with water to serve as drilling lubricant, and the B-61 HDX rig itself. At the right edge of the photo an umbrella can just be made out, which we'll describe below. Doug told us that ETTL's Mobile B-5500 rig (known as "Big Red" to our drilling teams, and which is shown at right) would be used for various of the other project tasks. "In addition to these bridge borings," Doug told us, "we'll be drilling eight 25-footers, to sample for retaining walls; twenty-seven 9-footers to get samples for soil stability testing; twelve pavement cores;and five asphalt pavement cores from the existing pavement, so its thickness and the nature of the base beneath it can be measured."
In the photo at left below, Scott, R-K's geologist, bags a sample, readying it for transport to the laboratory. At right, when logging it in, he is joined by Doug Gilley of TxDOT's Mineola maintenance facility, who had a crew at the site doing traffic control. Over the years, we've been directed through countless work sites along Texas highways by TxDOT crews; but this was the first time we'd seen the matter from their point of view. "We do our best to keep the travelers safe and cheerful," Doug Gilley told us. "Especially when the roads are crowded, and people tend to get a little impatient." We admired Scott's umbrella, which he had bought at a discount emporium. He grinned. "It's a lifesaver in this summer heat; otherwise I think I'd melt away completely!" |
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| In-depth information about ETTL's Contract Drilling Services is on our web site. Click here. |
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News & Views |
ETTL Engineers & Consultants Inc. 1717 East Erwin, Tyler, TX 75702 903-595-4421 • FAX 903-595-6113 E-Mail: ettlinc@ettlinc.com |
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