The North Atlantic Division’s Regional Center of Expertise for Subsurface Investigations & Soil Mechanics Laboratory Testing team is located in the Baltimore District. Services include subsurface geotechnical, hydrogeologic, and geo-environmental investigations, soil mechanics laboratory testing, construction quality assurance field testing, and borehole instrumentation.

The team is broken up into two units: The Field Exploration Unit (FEU) and the Materials & Instrumentation Unit (MIU). The FEU has drilling resources not widely available in the private sector as well as contracts with local drilling firms that aid with rapid response.

Drill teams have broad experience with drilling and sampling in a wide array of geologic conditions throughout the eastern part of the United States. Drill crews are experienced with wireline coring in vertical and angled boreholes; pressure testing during rock coring; air and mud rotary drilling; casing advancers through soil and rock; hollow stem augering; drive casing and washing methods for geotechnical, hydrogeologic, and geo-environmental investigations. Projects include dam and levee safety; design of military facilities; investigations in support of civil works design; development of groundwater resources, including construction and testing of water supply wells; and environmental investigations, including construction of single screen and multilevel monitoring wells.

Expertise includes:

Geotechnical subsurface investigations with soil, undisturbed, and rock sampling

In-situ testing such as bedrock pressure testing, Marchetti Dilatometer testing, permeability, pump testing, and geophysical well logging

Design, construction, and maintenance of small to large diameter piezometers, relief wells, water observation wells, single screened monitoring wells, and multi-level or multiport wells, water supply well design & construction

Geo-environmental subsurface investigations and decontamination on HTRW sites for work in Levels D through B

Soil mechanics laboratory testing

Installation, maintenance, and reading of instrumentation, levee pipe inspections using robotic camera, and field QA services.

Customers have included USACE divisions, military installations, sponsors such as the Maryland Port Authority, the City of Scranton, and City of Lock Haven, as well as other federal agencies including USGS, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, FAA, NAVFAC, and Arlington National Cemetery

USACE divisions, military installations, sponsors such as the Maryland Port Authority, the City of Scranton, and City of Lock Haven, as well as other federal agencies including USGS, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, FAA, NAVFAC, and Arlington National Cemetery

Sustain capabilities as a USACE national asset

Develop emerging technologies

Share resources to assure successful mission execution

Promote on-the-job training opportunities to develop new staff, refresh and invigorate experienced employees, and hone specialized knowledge, skills, and operational expertise and procedures

Promote professional interactions with the drilling and subsurface exploration industry to assure a strong governmental presence and perspective

Assure in-house subsurface exploration expertise is available to the nation in times of crisis

Sustain a high level of readiness to quickly react to dam safety, natural disasters, and other emergencies

Promote standardization of practices between DOD and industry

7 Traditional Drill Rigs

1 Failing F-6 Tilt-bed Crawler

2 CME 55 Trucks

1 CME 750X ATV

1 CME 45 Crawler

1 CME 45 Skid (with floating platform)

1 Acker AD II Truck

2 Portable Drills

1 Acker Tri-Pod Portable Drill

1 Longyear CP-65 Compressed Air Drill

Geophysical Tools

Mt. Sopris with caliper, gamma,

resistivity, s-p, borehole deviation

Slope-Indicator inclinometer

2 borehole cameras, horizontal/vertical viewing

10 Core Drill FTEs