The Direct Push and Rotary Percussion Sounding System is used in geological, hydrogeological, geotechnical, and geothermal characterization studies on groundwater resources and contaminated sites.
The Geotech 605D geotechnical drill rig and sounding equipment can be used to conduct direct push soundings such as piezometer tests, a type of cone penetration test (CPTU), as well as rotary percussion soundings in soils or rock masses. The system can be used to sample soil and water and conduct permeability tests without installing permanent observation wells. Light-weight piezometers can also be installed using this system.
Geotech 605D drill rig
Note: The system can be used to install observation wells by driving a threaded sleeve equipped with a lost tip (to minimize disturbance of granular environment), or to install 1 to 2 in. diameter perforated sleeves or perforated sleeves pre-installed with sand filters (prepack).
Vertek sounding systems
Note: Other sensors can be rented to take more specialized direct push measurements (seismic cone for mechanical properties, natural gamma logging for identifying formations, a video cone for identifying materials and detecting non-aqueous phase liquids).
Geoprobe Systems
CPT/SMR (Cone Penetration Test/Soil Moisture Resistivity)
Parameters measured
When the ramming stops, water pressure dissipates and returns to normal in the material. This makes it possible to measure static water pressure and determine the hydraulic load. In fine materials (silt, clay), pressure dissipation tests can be conducted to estimate the material’s hydraulic conductivity.
Applications: Determining mechanical properties (strength) of materials, identifying materials (stratigraphy) with vertical centimetric resolution, measuring soil water pressure, determining hydraulic conductivity of fine materials in pressure dissipation tests, identifying fluids with distinctive salinity (resistivity).
RPSS (Rotary Percussion Sounding System)
The parameters measured during sounding are used to determine the required energy based on the speed of penetration and identify the geological formations encountered. This drilling method has mainly been applied to the characterization of rocky masses, but it is also used to identify units in unconsolidated deposits, particularly in formations that are difficult to drill (gravel with boulders, till, etc.).
The RPSS can also be used to make preliminary holes in the unsaturated zone in which direct push soundings can then be made.
Geoprobe hydraulic profiling system with permeability testing system
The Geoprobe hydraulic profiling system can be used to drive a perforated section to different depths to conduct permeability tests. Geoprobe’s pneumatic permeability testing system allows permeability tests to be performed once the interval in which the hydraulic profiling system is located has been developed.
Water sampling
Water can be sampled in the saturated zone with the Vertex ConeSipper alone or in combination with CPT soundings. Water sampling can also be done with the Geoprobe hydraulic profiling system.
A number of technical services are available, including:
Notes
Availibility
The direct push and rotary percussion sounding system can be used by staff, faculty, and students of the Eau Terre Environment Research Centre, the Geological Survey of Canada, and other research institutions for their own projects.
Our resources and expertise are also available for external collaborative projects and research and development contracts.
Please contact us for more information on our technical services.
Here are a few examples of how the direct push and rotary percussion sounding system can be used:
The direct push and rotary percussion sounding system was purchased with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Government of Quebec.
Paradis, D., Lefebvre, R., Gloaguen, E. et Rivera, A. (2015). Predicting hydrofacies and hydraulic conductivity from direct-push data using a data-driven relevance vector machine approach: Motivations, algorithms and application. Water Resour. Res., 51 (1) : 481-205.
DOI : 10.1002/2014WR015452
Paradis, D., Tremblay, L., Lefebvre, R., Gloaguen, E., Rivera, A., Parent, M., Ballard, J. M., Michaud, Y. et Brunet, P. (2014). Field characterization and data integration to define the hydraulic heterogeneity of a shallow granular aquifer at a sub-watershed scale. Environ. Earth Sci., 72(5): 1325-1348.
DOI : 10.1007/s12665-014-3318-2
Tremblay, L., Lefebvre, R., Paradis, D. et Gloaguen, E. (2014). Conceptual model of leachate migration in a granular aquifer derived from the integration of multi-source characterization data (St-Lambert, Canada). Hydrogeol. J., 22 (3) : 587-608.
DOI : 10.1007/s10040-013-1065-1
Richard Martel
Professor and Scientific head
Phone: 418-654-2683
richard.martel@ete.inrs.ca
Boutaina El Jai
Partnerships and Research Development Advisor
Phone: 418 654-2531
boutaina.el_jai@inrs.ca
Direct Push and Rotary Percussion Sounding System
Institut national de la recherche scientifique
Eau Terre Environnement Research Centre
490 rue de la Couronne
Quebec City, Quebec G1K 9A9