Drill Team on the Bog (Day One) by Steve T

Day one of a drilling job is always an interesting one. It usually determines how well the week is going to go. It can give you a good idea of the ground, what you’re trying to get through, the goals that are achievable. So I’m glad to report that our first day at Tregaron went well with the day ending at 10m. Despite most of Britain reporting cold and windy weather, our corner of Wales was mild (depending on whether you were doing the drilling or observing!).

 The drill site was only just off the main track so we were able to get started fairly quickly this morning. We are using our percussion Terrier rig to attempt to drill through the peat bog, into the glacial clays underneath.  We’ve decided on the 87mm size barrel and because of the soft material being drilled we are having to case the hole as we progress. This means drilling a metal sleeve into the ground with the barrel and although this makes the drilling slower, it ensures that the hole doesn’t collapse whilst we’re recovering the core. The first five metres drilled were through the peat and then at 5.80m we found something different - a blue-grey clay with some mudstone fragments.  The bedrock is likely to be greater than 20m and as we are trying to get the whole sequence we may have another big day ahead tomorrow.

We’re now sat in the hotel with the wind whistling through the windows and making the most enormous waves crash on the beach opposite. Hopefully the wind will abate by the morning...


 Till tomorrow, keep it greased!

(Posted by Steve T)