Dam Drilling

Drilling On and Inside Dams

DA Smith is experienced with drilling, coring, and pressure-grouting holes in concrete arch and gravity dams across the United States. Past projects have involved core drilling to investigate concrete integrity and bedrock contact, concrete sampling for mechanical properties testing, in situ stress measurements inside dams, and installation of geomechanical instrumentation. We work with private dam owners, government owners, engineering firms, and heavy civil constructors, and can adapt our equipment to fit virtually any project.

Difficult Access

We have the capability to drill in difficult-to-access locations on the crests of dams, on barges, from scaffolding on dam faces, below gates, on spillways, and inside narrow tunnels, galleries, and shafts inside dams. We are experienced with many forms of hole grouting and the use of non-shrinking low-alkali grouts and plasticizer compounds where historical concrete may be vulnerable to alkali-silica reaction.

Large Core

We are capable of coring through any dam and into bedrock at any angle, reaching hole depths of more than 1,000 feet, depending upon core size. We are also able to core through structural steel if necessary. We routinely core N, H, P, and 6-inch-diameter, and have cored up to 18-inches in diameter where large samples were required.

High Pressure

We have extensive experience drilling into high-pressure regimes where flow control is critical and can fabricate special containment and flow control systems for sites where water contamination, dam breaching, or inundation is a concern.