How long will it take to drill the holes?

by | Jan 1, 2021

Another very common question and another one with no short answer. Factors that affect speed include: inside/outside, depth, accessibility, distance between holes, continuous soil sampling requirement, soil type, subsurface obstructions, auger size, solid stem/hollow stem, well installations, well finishing or cleanup, consultant, light, temperature and a myriad of other more minor factors. We suggest calling us to tell us what you need to do and we will give you some estimates of how long it should take.

A few general rules of thumb:

  • For depths of less than 10-15 feet, our units are usually comparable to conventional rig speed.
  • Drilling indoors takes longer than outdoors, especially in areas of limited head clearance. This can be due to many factors such as the extra time required to move all our equipment inside, and setup of our extended hydraulic hose system to eliminate exhaust fumes. Drilling inside also usually means extra cleanup efforts to make sure the floors are all clean and extra time to move out cuttings etc. Flushmount casings must be put in extra carefully to make sure they are exactly flush with the floor so they are not a tripping hazard. Inside, floors must be cored with the concrete core machine, requiring more time. Working indoors usually means that we must be more cognisant and accommodating for processes and workers which may be active indoors at the time of drilling, which can sometimes cause obstacles or delays.
  • Accessibility and distance between holes can obviously affect our production rate. It is much quicker to roll out the equipment from the truck and drill numerous holes all around a UST area beside where we are parked than it is to carry equipment hundreds of metres, up or down slopes or stairs, and move all our equipment all over a large industrial site from hole to hole.
  • Drilling outside in the winter or rainy conditions will generally take longer.
  • Intermittent sampling or semi-continuous split spoon sampling is much faster than continuous sampling – especially when you get to greater depths.