Geoprobe® Direct Push Soil & Groundwater Sampling

Curren Environmental provides site investigation services to consultants and responsible parties.  Curren operates both truck mounted drilling and All Terrain vehicle (ATV) mounted Geoprobe drilling units.   Geoprobe units prove all terrain access for obtain site investigation soil and groundwater samples for remedial investigations, tank evaluations and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments.

Geoprobe® Direct Push Technology (DPT) units are hydraulically-powered, percussion/probing machines geoprobe direct push technology designed Geoprobe ATV DRilling Unit specifically for use in the environmental industry. The first Geoprobe® brand machine was built for the Environmental Protection Agency in 1988. Soil probing techniques can be thought of as a subcategory of what are commonly referred to as "Direct Push" techniques. Direct Push refers to tools and sensors that are "pushed" into the ground without the use of drilling to remove soil or to make a path for the tool. A Geoprobe® relies on a relatively small amount of static (vehicle) weight combined with percussion as the energy for advancement of a tool string. Geoprobes® can be utilized to obtain continuous soil cores, groundwater samples or vapor samples. Soil probing equipment is typically used for subsurface site investigations from 6" to 60 feet depending upon soil conditions.

The versatility of Geoprobe® (DPT) equipment has displaced traditional drilling methods as the preferred mode of collecting subsurface samples. The dynamic advantages of Geoprobe® equipment provides numerous reasons why DPT techniques have found such wide acceptance in the field. Among these reasons are the following:

  • It rearranges particles in the subsurface by application of weight and percussion to advance a tool string.
  • No drill cuttings are produced during the sampling process.
  • Probing is fast: typical penetration rates are from 5 to 25 feet (2 to 8 m) per minute.
  • Low overhead clearance of the DPT equipment allows access to areas where traditional mast type drill rigs cannot reach.
  • Probing tools create small diameter holes which minimize surface and subsurface disturbance.
  • It can drill through surface pavements 12 inches (305 mm) or more in thickness and probes beneath them.
  • It can be used for collecting soil cores, groundwater samples, and soil gas samples. A probing tool is also available to make a continuous log of soil conductivity and probe penetration rates.

Geoprobe® machines can be used to sample subsurface media including soil, groundwater, and soil gas. Geoprobe® machines can also be used to retrieve geotechnical data via cone penetration testing. Permanent sampling implants can be installed in the Geoprobe® bore holes such as air sparging points or small diameter monitoring wells.