Services
With the years of experience our team members possess and the thousands of projects in our company’s portfolio – we are sure that we can handle your project.
ENVIRONMENTAL DRILLING SERVICES
Vortex Drilling provides a wide range of environmental drilling services such as hollow-stem drilling, solid-stem (flight) drilling, Geoprobe drilling, mud rotary, air rotary, plug and abandonment, and more.
The drilling methodologies utilize to collect the ground and groundwater samples include, but are not limited to; standard penetration, auguring, and soil/rock coring. For future evaluation, monitoring wells are typically installed, which facilitates monitoring of the groundwater quality.
When boring the holes for monitoring well installations, Vortex’s choice of drills and rigs will depend on the subsurface formations and any contaminants present. Vortex ensures that the design and installation of all monitoring wells meet project and client needs and follow legal and regulatory standards.
Vortex specializes in the plugging of abandoned or no longer functioning monitor wells. Vortex has plugged more than 13,000 monitor wells since 2001 and has the expertise to do the job right. Vortex uses the correct plugging materials and installs them properly, as per state regulations and any local groundwater conservation district specifications.
Air Rotary Drilling uses compressed air as the circulation medium. The drill bit cuts the formation and the air clears the cuttings from the boring.
Mud Rotary Drilling utilizes pumped water and/or additives as the circulation medium. The drill bit cuts the formation and the mud clears the cuttings from the boring. The cuttings are separated at the surface from the mud and the mud is recirculated back down into the boring.
Hollow Stem Auger uses auger flights to remove cuttings while the bit face allows the insertion of a sample tube to collect representative samples. As the drill bit cuts the formation, the cuttings travel up the spiraled flights of the auger and are removed from the boring. This process is very similar to that of a drill bit and a hand drill. As an alternative to hollow stem auger, solid flight auger may be used in stable formations.
Direct Push uses a hydraulic/pneumatic hammer in conjunction with static force to advance the sampler. These rods create the borings and collect soil samples. Vortex Drilling utilizes Geoprobe® manufactured machines for its limited access capabilities. The Geoprobe® machines accommodate several sampling tools that can be readily attached to the boring rods in order to collect groundwater samples, soil, and soil-gas samples.
Vacuum excavations either expose a utility or remove earth in close proximity to a utility. When excavating in preparation for a boring or monitor well in the proximity of buried utilities, vacuum excavation is a safe alternative to hydraulic methods and an efficient alternative to hand digging.
Land Clearing
Underground Utility Locates
Vapor Extraction Well Installation and Abandonment
Monitor Well Development
Injection Well Installation and Abandonment
Shelby Tube Sampling
Split Spoon Sampling
Piezometer Installation and Abandonment