ASTRA CPT Cone — Good Quality, Good People, Good System

Ryan Ward PE and Fernando Garcia PE, D.GE worked together as engineers at a Maryland consulting firm providing geotechnical consulting services using primarily in situ testing. Then the COVID-19 pandemic convinced Garcia to transfer offices to be closer to his grandchildren outside Baltimore. As things got a bit chaotic at the consulting firm due to staffing shortages, Ward and Garcia began talking about starting their own business. During January 2022 they launched Stable Ground In-Situ based in Delaware to serve the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

“We’ve gotten over the hump of being a new business and have a solid workload with steady clients,” Ward said. “One difference that makes us unique is we involve a licensed engineer — Fernando or myself — with the project start to finish. We help the client determine what testing they really need, perform the on-site testing, reduce the data, and provide consulting to the client if they aren't familiar with using the data. It's not just sending an email with Excel data; it's providing the tools and know-how for the client to have the most efficient design possible.”

In their previous positions they’d used a Geoprobe^® 6625CPT, 7822DT, and NOVA CPT . So when they decided to go out on their own, they chose a 7822DT and a Geoprobe^® ASTRA CPT cone.

“We like the versatility of the 7822DT — it gives you a little bit of everything,” Ward said. “It’s good to see Geoprobe^® building their own cone, and they gave us the opportunity to test drive it and provide feedback. Being American-made, it’s easier to just make a phone call if there are any issues.”

Garcia and Ward call themselves “cowboys," accepting they might break a cone.

“Some operators will stop if they hit something gravelly or a dense layer. Some won't even take the job,” Ward said. “A lot of our projects are calls where they drilled and ran into lots of demolition material or gravel layers. These difficult sites aren't really what you think of when you imagine an ideal CPT site. But with a robust cone and lots of experience on knowing when to stop and go, they can be done.”

The Geoprobe^® ASTRA CPT provides them peace of mind when approaching these types of difficult subsurface conditions.

“The ASTRA CPT is stronger, and it’s good to have a strong cone for those tougher conditions,” Ward said. “We haven’t had any problems yet.”

ASTRA CPT System Advantages

To Ward, there are four distinct advantages to using the Geoprobe^® ASTRA CPT cone:

• Strength: “The neck of ASTRA, where the threads are, is more robust and reduces the potential of breaking. This is where most breaks have happened with other cones.”
• Interchangeable: “It’s easy to transition between NOVA and ASTRA if necessary, so we keep our NOVA system as a backup.”
• Support: “Geoprobe^® is responsive. There are good people you can call who will listen to you. They’ve definitely invested in making a really good product.”
• Simple: “I’ve used other systems and like the simplicity of the Geoprobe^® software. If you’re doing CPT, you only need to have the relevant options that you’ll use during the test and don't need to have countless settings to tinker with; it’s very simple and few areas to go wrong. It has simple buttons and user interface isn't cluttered with a dozen features you'll never use.”

Ward appreciates being able to call Troy Schmidt or Cory Harvey, CPT specialists, to talk through problems they encounter. For him there’s comfort knowing you can reach someone familiar with the system with whom you’ve built a relationship.

“If you call Geoprobe^®, somebody will have an answer for you and that’s not always what you will find with another manufacturer,” Ward said. “Good quality. Good people. Good system. That’s what I like. Not to mention, it's cheaper."