GDI Jan/Feb 2010
COMPANY NEWS
Recently Updated Portals
NEWS BY SUBJECT
REGIONAL NEWS
SPECIAL FEATURES
Comment
Hot rocks projects facing turbulence
IN SWITZERLAND and the US, geothermal energy projects that drill deep into the Earth’s crust have encountered serious opposition from those citing concerns about earthquake risk. But, in both of these countries, the momentum for further geothermal exploration is continuing apace.Drill Pads
More exhibitors on show at GeoDrilling 2010
Exhibitors are lining up a range of new and innovative products and displaying their far-reaching capabilities at the forthcoming GeoDrilling 2010 exhibition.
Layne Christensen project freezes traffic
CLOSING off two of five traffic lanes on 11th Avenue in bustling downtown Manhattan to drill more than 200 freeze holes as part of a subway system upgrade was not the biggest problem facing Keith Myers and Joe Sopko of Layne Christensen.Bauer uses CSM for Hoover rehab
AFTER the disastrous impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the US Army Corps of Engineers considered the Herbert Hoover Dyke in Florida to be within the top 10 dams in the nation requiring rehabilitation.Atlas Copco agrees to buy Quincy Compressors
ATLAS Copco has agreed to acquire Quincy Compressor from EnPro Industries for approximately US$190 million.More exhibitors on show at GeoDrilling 2010
Exhibitors are lining up a range of new and innovative products and displaying their far-reaching capabilities at the forthcoming GeoDrilling 2010 exhibition.Schlumberger finishes phase II hydro tests
SCHLUMBERGER has completed a Phase II hydrogeologic characterisation programme for E&B Natural Resources at Antelope Hills Field in California.Stump uses Atlas Copco tool for German lock ground anchoring
GERMAN foundations specialist Stump Spezialtiefbau is using an Atlas Copco XRVS 476 compressor to bore 45 26m-deep holes on a project to strengthen Guttenbach Lock on the River Neckar.DMA joins Golder
Duane Miller and Associates (DMA), a firm that specialises in arctic and geotechnical engineering, based in Anchorage, has become part of the Alaska operations of Golder Associates. Considered to have the largest cold-regions geotechnical laboratory in Alaska, DMA has also developed specialised geotechnical field-exploration methods and equipment to deal with extreme arctic and subarctic conditions.Trevi wins two special foundations contracts
TREVI Foundations Nigeria, a company controlled by Gruppo Trevi, has won new special foundations contracts in West Africa totalling about US$60 million.Northern Territory GEO
Australia’s Northern Territory entered the geothermal age in December when its legislation and regulations concerning geothermal exploration and development went ‘live’. Seventeen submissions for exploration licences were lodged ‘over the counter’ on the first day.Chiltern hires BAM
Chiltern Railways has awarded BAM Nuttall a £190 million contract that will create a new main line from London Marylebone station to Oxfordshire and the Midlands, UK.GreenEarth in Anglesea
Australia-based Greenearth Energy has been awarded a total of A$25million under the Victorian Government’s ‘Energy Technology Innovation Strategy’ for the next two stages of its Anglesea Geothermal Project.Bachy Soletanche conducts cliff-top piling project
BACHY Soletanche has completed a contiguous piled-wall installation project for the Portobello Pumping Station in East Sussex as part of Southern Water’s environmental-improvement scheme to bring cleaner seas to the area.Lankelma ground investigation for Glasgow stadium
LANKELMA carried out 23 full-displacement pressuremeter tests over four days in the east end of Glasgow along a proposed link road.Ground-source warms up care home
A CARE home for the elderly that was commissioned by the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution (RMBI) at Cramlington, Northumberland, UK, has benefited from a ground-source energy system.Rigs & Supplies
Testing begins on water-recycling system for Sonic rigs
THROUGHOUT the world, company CEOs and industry leaders are trying to be as environmentally responsible as possible – even in the messy world of drilling.
Atlas Copco unveils DrillAir Open Unit for contractors
ATLAS Copco’s Portable Air division completes its DrillAir range with an Open Unit, delivering up to 727 litres/sec flow 727 litres/sec flow (1,550cfm) at 25 bar (365psi). The new DrillAir Open Units, XRVO 727 (XRVO 1550 CD 7) and XRXO 667 (XRXO 1400 CD7), offer a dedicated open-frame design for specialist applications and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) system integration.BSS Industrial teams up with Kensa Heat Pumps
UK GROUND SOURCE heat-pump manufacturer Kensa Engineering, based in Cornwall, UK, has joined BSS Industrial’s portfolio of manufacturing partners.Ground-breaking trio from Fordia
A NEW matrix, designed especially for soft and abrasive ground, has been introduced on the market by Canadian manufacturer Fordia.Sandvik seals submerged drilling equipment deal with Severstal
SANDVIK Mining and Construction and LLC Beresitoviy Rudnik, owned by Russian steel and mining company Severstal, have signed an agreement regarding the supply of submerged drilling equipment.Soilmec set to present new hydromill at Bauma
SOILMEC will be present at German expo Bauma with a wide range of equipment, technologies and services, including the CH-10 hydromill, which has been applied for the first time on the SC-100 with a DMS2-controlled, electro-proportional installation.Atlas Copco compresses scrappage scheme
ATLAS Copco Compressors has extended the idea of the UK car-scrappage scheme into the compressed air arena, so that it is not only car owners who will benefit when the time comes for equipment replacement.Sandvik signs Cubex as underground dealer
SANDVIK Mining and Construction has entered into a dealer agreement with Canada-based Cubex to market, distribute and support its underground-mining product line, including all drills, booster/compressor packages, ancillary support components and water-pump systems.Baker Hughes hots up
Baker Hughes is to create drills and measurement equipment that can function at 600ºF to tap geothermal energy. Honeywell International, Schlumberger and General Electric Co are also understood to be working on instruments and electronics that work reliably at 600ºF.Leica site device
Leica’s Builder Series is designed for non-technical, construction professionals to perform layout, positioning and other daily site tasks.New identity for Nicholson
NICHOLSON Construction Company has updated its logo and visual identity to incorporate the new branding elements created for the recent merger (at the holding company level) of Nicholson’s parent company, Soletanche Bachy, and the Freyssinet Group.IPI SWiPS and Datalogger Flowmeter used in Israel
AUSTRALIA’S Inflatable Packers International (IPI) has supplied its Standard Wireline Packer System (SWiPS) for use on a 700m-deep investigation for a hydro-electric site at Gilboa in Israel.Atlas Copco rolls out hydraulic rock drill for long-hole work
ATLAS Copco has introduced a completely new hydraulic rock drill – the COP 3060MUX – for use in underground long-hole drilling.GSP pile workshop
GSP and Pile Dynamics will hold a workshop on March 25 in Hamburg, Germany, on GRLWEAP – a 1D wave-equation analysis program that simulates pile response to pile-driving equipment.Van Walt website
A new website has been launched by Van Walt at www.vanwalt.com. The site offers information on the company’s range of equipment plus environmental information on techniques and best practice.Tritech Starfish boost
Tritech’s shallow-water StarFish sonar systems now have the advantage of real-time and postprocessing power, allowing users to produce high-resolution maps and reports in a variety of formats.Hydraquip hose unit
January saw Hydraquip open a metal-hose division in a 6,000ft2 modern industrial unit in Bolton, Lancashire, UK. The team previously worked together at Flexible Hose Supplies’ Bolton office for many years.Chicago pneumatic
Chicago Pneumatic is to make its portable compressors and generators available in the whole of Europe. This will involve converting the Irmair brand into Chicago Pneumatic.Schlumberger Hydro
Schlumberger Water Services has released Hydro GeoBuilder, a hydrogeologic conceptual modelling software developed to advance the process of building and evaluating groundwater-flow models.Drillers Log
Water plugs the gap for Dando
UK-BASED rig builder Dando Drilling has revealed that water is proving a hedge against recession for the company, which has been manufacturing and supplying waterwell-drilling machines for over 140 years.Tentative recovery not expected until 2011
AFTER an estimated fall of over 12% in UK construction output in 2009 – the largest decline in a single year since records began in 1955 – the latest construction forecasts from the Construction Products Association predict a further slide of 3% in output this year, with the first tentative signs of recovery not expected until 2011.Cornish Holman rock drill is focal exhibition sculpture
CORNISH mining engineer Stephen Lay, owner of the Holman Rock Drill Collection, has been approached by the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly, London, to provide archival information regarding its ‘Wild Thing’ exhibition, featuring Jacob Epstein’s Rock Drill sculpture.Cresme finds future potential in Africa
THE future is in Africa, according to Cresme, the Italian Research Institute specialising in construction, which has released a report called ‘Africa and emerging economies’, which states that the international market may be an effective response to the recession.Global rig training from Atlas Copco
ATLAS Copco has launched a global training programme for its customers’ drill-rig operators, available from early January 2010, called Drill Master, which consists of three levels – bronze, silver and gold.Gefco training seminar
GEFCO’s Fourteenth Annual Resource Drilling Fundamental Training Seminar will be held at its facility in Enid, Oklahoma, on May 10-14. For more email intsales@gefco.com or visit www.gefco.com.Southeast Asia summit
The Piling and Deep Foundations SE Asia summit takes place on March 23-24 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.SA GEO society course
The Geological Society of South Africa will present a course on February 18-19 in Johannesburg on the subject of drilling methods in exploration and mining.Innotrans 2010 on track
The organisers of InnoTrans 2010, the rail technology trade fair being held on September 21-24 in Berlin, Germany, said it should have more registered exhibitors than in 2008.New rule pensions
Employers in UK small businesses will have until 2016 to establish new workplace pensions.Water expo in Oregon
The 2010 Pacific Northwest Ground Water Expo takes place on February 19-20 in Portland, Oregon.SED 2010 postponed
SED 2010 has been postponed due to the current economic environment. Organisers said SED would return in May 2011, with the intervening year used to develop new show plans.Atlas Copco expert guide
Atlas Copco has published Blasthole Drilling in Open Pit Mining, sharing the knowledge of its product experts and customers through 11 technical articles and nine case studies. Topics include blasting techniques in open-cut metal mines, using technology and automation on site, and ergonomics and safety.Features
Explosive results
THE new CIRIA guidance, ‘Unexploded Ordnance (UXO): A guide for the construction industry (C681)’, has been officially available since October 2009. It is hoped that this long-awaited document will bring a consistent and objective approach to assessing the risk from unexploded ordnance, particularly that related to bombs (UXB) from World Wars I and II.
Goettle proves the power of invention in Kentucky
WHILE there are routine drilled foundations and anchored earth-retention projects being performed every day by International Association of Foundation Drilling (ADSC) members, every job has the potential to become something more than routine. When working underground, the most comprehensive pre-construction information cannot guarantee that one will not encounter unforeseen conditions. This is a given in the deep foundation industry.New heights for downhole drilling
HIGH above the deep valleys and canyons of Colorado’s Piceance Basin, Frank Westcott, president of Colorado-based Native Navigation, faces a challenge. He is listening to his directional driller’s plan to navigate a new borehole through 16 other wells already spudded from the drill pad they are standing on.Safer channels of communication
THE word communication, in a biological context, means an activity by one organism that changes or has the potential to change the behaviour of other organisms.Stent brings sound of silence to Deptford piling project
INNOVATIVE silent piling technology is being used to increase the level of flood-risk protection at Deptford Creek, southeast London, without disturbing the neighbours.DTH drilling tools extend their reach
In 2002, Atlas Copco launched the Secoroc COP 64 Gold, its most productive 6in DTH hammer ever. The company followed that up in 2004 with the Secoroc COP 54 Gold, for those who wanted the same performance in a smaller tool. Now, Atlas Copco says the family is complete with the launch of its latest model – the Secoroc COP 44 Gold.Predicting the effect of temperature change on heat-exchanger piles
HEAT-EXCHANGER piles, as the main example of energy geostructures, are a sustainable technology for the heating and cooling of buildings. They consist of two main components: the pile foundations of a building, which transfer construction loads to the ground; and a system of heat exchange with the ground.Singapore’s Downtown Linegoes underground at Bugis
A TOTAL of 11 Liebherr excavator rigs, including seven HS 855 HD dutycycle crawler cranes, are being used by French contractor Soletanche Bachy to excavate deep trenches for the slurry wall being built as part of the Bugis interchange station at the new Downtown Mass Rapid Transit Line (DTL) in Singapore.Two BSP heavyweights for New Orleans surge barrier
BRITISH piling equipment manufacturer BSP International Foundations has supplied two of its heavy-duty hydraulic piling hammers for use in the construction of the world’s largest surge barrier, designed to protect the coastal city of New Orleans in Louisiana.Core Issues
