We wake at 5am, or so….take care of hygiene (while looking at the weather and local traffic reports for today), dress for the days weather. Drive to work/shop, grab the project paperwork so I know which materials to load for the day.
Next, I meet with the helper to log in to electronic driver log and load supplies onto truck/rig. I leave shop in the direction of our project for the day.
Usually we stop to get a coffee and a bite.The scope of work for this project was up to 10 soil borings to ~ 15 ft bags; a remedial investigation at a residential property for a leaking oil tank.Arrive onsite (hopefully earlier than the client), walk the site if possible and look for utilities above and below ground (this is when we paint marks or place flags).
Once the client arrives, we do a meet & greet, discuss the scope of work and where the first location is for a soil boring. Once we are all set up, we discuss the scope of work a second time and discuss any potential hazards and risks pertaining the rig and site.
We put on all of our PPE and start the project. We set out cones and barriers where needed for the safe unloading. The equipment is started up and routine checks for the machines to make sure there are no issues.
Testing safety switches and unhooking the machine(s) from tie downs follows. We then precede to unload the rig and proceed to the first location. The grass is soft from the rain and plywood is required.
We pick up the ply wood from the truck and lay it down to minimize damage to lawn. Once the location is reached, we set up the mast and unload tooling needed for the borings. A complete assessment of the area is completed again to insure the least amount of chance to encounter utilities.
We begin to hand auger down setting small piles every six inches for inspection. Once we are at the pre-determined depth set, tooling in the hole and we advance the boring. Every every five feet, we pull out the liner and cut it open for sampling and visual inspection continue to about fifteen inches1.
Bucket and brush decon and continue process at each location.When it is time for lunch, we turn off equipment and sign out of driver log. We take a brief thirty minute lunch before signing back in.
When borings are completed, the spoils can go back in the holes and hole plug is used to top off.
Throughout the day, making notes and complete daily QV sheet is second nature.
We organize and load tooling and make sure to secure the machine.
Driving back to the shop, we find a fuel station and top off the equipment. Once at the shop, we unload trash and unnecessary equipment and prepare for tomorrow’s job.