Tunnel Drilling | DA Smith Drilling Company

Capabilities

DA Smith offers extensive experience drilling in transportation, mining, and water tunnels for geotechnical characterization during construction to post-constructing investigations. We core B, N, H, P, and 6-inch-diameter at any angle inside a tunnel, or plug drill where coring is not required. Our skid-mounted drills can be transported readily by wheeled equipment or rail in most tunnels, and our larger track-mounted drills are self-tramming. Our permissible drills are MSHA certified and can operate in gassy environments. Our services can be designed to fit almost any tunnel project.

In situ stress measurements in main haulage rail tunnel, East Boulder Mine, Stillwater, Montana
Roof coring in cross passage, Hanging Lake Tunnel, I-70, Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Core drilling, BART Caldecott rail tunnel, Oakland, California
Loading drilling equipment onto railcar, BART Caldecott rail tunnel, Oakland, California
Rib coring in cross passage, Hanging Lake Tunnel, I-70, Glenwood Springs, Colorado

In situ stress measurements in main haulage rail tunnel, East Boulder Mine, Stillwater, Montana
Roof coring in cross passage, Hanging Lake Tunnel, I-70, Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Core drilling, BART Caldecott rail tunnel, Oakland, California
Loading drilling equipment onto railcar, BART Caldecott rail tunnel, Oakland, California
Rib coring in cross passage, Hanging Lake Tunnel, I-70, Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Small Footprint

Our smaller equipment can fit inside wet or dry tunnels as small as 7 feet in diameter and is fully self-contained where utilities are not available. Our tighter equipment oftentimes facilitates closure of just one lane of traffic in live-traffic tunnels.

Groundwater

Where high-pressure and/or high-volume groundwater is a concern, we have the ability to set surface casing and drill through a sealed flow-diverter with shut-in pressure capacity up to 200 psi (1.4 MPa). Holes can be completed with casing of any design and pressure grouted to control water or gas flows.

Environmentally Friendly

Where contamination is a concern in water supply tunnels, we are able to drill with water (no drilling additives) and our rigs are ordinarily operated with biodegradable (food-grade) hydraulic oil that poses no environmental harm.