3-Inch Interlocking Split Spoons

After just a few uses of the 2-inch interlocking split spoon sampler, Discovery Drilling in Alaska was convinced they needed the new design in a 3-inch version to satisfy their sample-hungry clients. In their market, 80 percent or more of the geotechnical jobs – where split spoon sampling and blow counts are required – are conducted by advancing a 3-inch split spoon with a 340-lb. drop hammer. With this customer feedback in hand, Geoprobe^® tooling engineers set out to meet their need and then let Discovery put them to the test.

“We’ve conducted several projects so far with the new 3-inch spoons. …We’ve sampled geology where the spoons would have to endure 100 blows with the 340-lb. hammer to barely achieve six inches of penetration, and they come out of the ground still maintaining their integrity,” DJ Wardwell, operations manager, said. “And most importantly, they are hardy enough where even after that kind of punishment, they still assemble and disassemble vastly easier than the legacy samplers we were used to.”