11.07.2005
Playing in the Dirt!
I went down to Redlands, CA (map) to help out on a test pit for an upcoming project. We have the possibility of putting in a small reservoir to aid in the local water district's supply distribution. A normal exploration of a possible site usually entails determining various drill hole locations and sending a drill rig out to core and get samples from. The geologists use that data to create a profile of the various types of layers of soil / rock / etc. It was determined that it would be more conclusive to dig a test pit and perform a few tests in the hole. So we sent out 2 geologists, a lab tech, 2 hired contractors / operators and me. If you ever wondered how many people it took to dig a hole. Although it was about 25 feet deep.
At about 5 feet we perfomed a ring desity test (see pictures below). Then at ~10' we perfomed a permibility test (constant head). It's always fun to get out and check out the site before anything has been done. The geologists had their work cut out for them as they analysed the area. You could tell the operators weren't quite as into the technicalities of the soil... they just wanted to keep digging!!! I wanted to get up in the excavtor and operate it for a little while, but it was not to be. It was even equipped in streo!
Other instruments of note were the pocket penetrometer, and the nuke guage. both of whcih will give you an idea of density.
¶ 6:57 PM 
At about 5 feet we perfomed a ring desity test (see pictures below). Then at ~10' we perfomed a permibility test (constant head). It's always fun to get out and check out the site before anything has been done. The geologists had their work cut out for them as they analysed the area. You could tell the operators weren't quite as into the technicalities of the soil... they just wanted to keep digging!!! I wanted to get up in the excavtor and operate it for a little while, but it was not to be. It was even equipped in streo!
Other instruments of note were the pocket penetrometer, and the nuke guage. both of whcih will give you an idea of density.
¶ 6:57 PM
