American GeoServices

What is Surface Drainage? Surface drainage is the orderly removal of excess water from the surface of land through improved natural channels or constructed ditches via shaping of the land's surface.

Surface drainage applies primarily on flat land where slow infiltration, low permeability, restricting layers in the soil profile, or shallowness of soil over rock/deep clays prevents ready percolation of rainfall, runoff, seepage from uplands, or overflow from streams through the soil to a deep stratum.The water surface in the field lateral at design depth should be low enough to drain the field.

What is a Pile Integrity Test? A pile integrity test is the procedure for determining the integrity of individual vertical or inclined piles by measuring and analyzing the velocity and force response of the pile induced by an impact device - usually applied axially and perpendicularly to the pile head surface.

What is Soil Nailing? Soil nailing is a fundamental concept of reinforcement of existing ground conditions (natural slopes/cuts) by inserting closely spaced passive inclusions called 'nails'. These nails are driven directly into the ground or grouted into drilled holes (to increase the in-situ soil shear strength and provide stability).

What is the Purpose of Monitoring Using Geotechnical Instruments? The performance of geotechnical structures such as foundations, retaining walls, embankments, in many cases, monitored for purposes of both short-term and long-term safety, for evaluations of performance-based-design and as part of the implementation of the observational method.

What are Mining and Quarrying? Mining and quarrying extract a wide range of useful materials from the ground such as coal, metals, and stone. These substances are used widely in building and manufacturing industry, while precious stones have long been used for adornment and decoration.

Mining and quarrying involve investigating potential sites of extraction, then getting the required material out of the ground, and finally processing with heat or chemicals to get out the metal or other substance of interest.All these operations may use large amounts of water. Mining and quarrying can be very destructive to the environment.