DRILLING & SAMPLING

DRILLING & SAMPLING

Our Capability

We run a fleet of multi-purpose Comacchio rotary drill rigs operated by experienced Lead Drillers and supported by a team of Drilling Supervisors and experienced Project Managers.

Each of our drilling teams are equipped to provide services in the following areas:

  • Wireline Rotary Coring
  • Conventional Rotary Coring
  • Dynamic Sampling
  • Down the Hole Hammer (DTH)
  • Rotary Auger
  • Rotary Open Holing
  • Dynamic Probing
  • Sampling
  • In-situ Testing
  • Installations and Monitoring
  • Laboratory Testing
  • Factual Reporting
  • Geotechnical Design

In addition, our rotary rigs are equipped with the latest down hole equipment and have engines which meet the emissions requirements for working in London and other major cities. The rigs are also equipped with the latest sensor based rig guarding system, SAFER G, which allows increased productivity and a more effective drilling experience without compromising on safety.

Down-Hole Equipment Hole Diameter Core Diameter Our Capacity
Wireline Core Barrels
Geobor S 146mm 102mm Up to 180m
Conventional Core Barrels
SWF 146.0mm 112.8nn Up to 150m
PWF 120.6mm 92.1mm Up to 150m
HWF 99.2mm 76.2mm Up to 200m
412 107.2mm 74.7mm Up to 150m
Thin Wall Series Core Barrels
T6-H 99.2mm 79mm Up to 200m
T6-116 116.3mm 93mm Up to 150m
Overburden Systems
Odex 115mm N/A Up to 20m
Robit 168.3mm N/A Up to 45m

Capability Breakdown

The majority of our rigs are equipped with the Geobor-S rotary wireline system and in the hands of our skilled, experienced Lead Drillers it is possible to recover high quality samples even from soft deposits.

Sampling from our rotary drills is predominantly for rock, although through the use of the percussive head dynamic sampling can be carried out recovering thin wall U70 samples.

We can also provide trained and competent staff with skills to carry out specialist site works which are often lacking in many organisations. These specialists can carry out the tasks themselves or provide on-site advisory services and training. Tasks include:

  • High Quality Sample Recovery – soil and rock
  • High Quality Logging – soil and rock
  • Geophysics – land based and down hole
  • In-situ testing – packer, pump tests
  • Reporting

Maintenance

We implement a robust system to carry out daily maintenance checks and comprehensive in-house servicing and pro-active maintenance programmes from Marriott's depot facilities in Chesterfield.

In addition, we also operate a mobile maintenance capability to ensure any breakdowns are dealt with quickly and efficiently minimising impacts on productivity. All S M Associates rigs comply with UK legislation and regulations and use experienced third party competent persons to carry out both PUWER and LOLER inspections.

Dynamic Sampling

We can also provide dynamic sampling capability either through the percussive hammer fitted to the rotary drill rigs or using small tracked rigs such as the Terrier.

These rigs are capable of driving open tube samplers typically up to 8m depth in appropriate materials. The samples produced from this method are disturbed and therefore only suitable for laboratory tests for classification purposes.

Get in touch

No matter how big or small your project, we offer unrivalled levels of quality. From our project management through to our sampling techniques – we can provide dynamic solutions to all of your most pressing Ground Investigation needs.