Interlocking Split Spoon Makes Split Spoon Soil Sampling Easier

Geotechnical engineering office American Engineering Testing Inc tests anything built on grade — buildings, roads, etc. Driller Matt Hanson, who grew up in a drilling family — his father has been drilling since 1972, has been drilling for 22 years working for the South Dakota American Engineering Testing Inc office since 2000. 

While on a job site a few years ago, a Geoprobe^® sales representative demonstrated the patented 2-inch interlocking split spoon. Hanson immediately recognized the benefits when conducting split spoon soil sampling in their geologies.

“In South Dakota we have lots of water bearing sand. Around the aquifer north of town, conventional style spoons would usually expand out,” Hanson said.

The friction created by the coarse sand wouldn’t allow it to flow through a conventional sampler and instead bulge or balloon out. The Geoprobe^® 2-inch interlocking split spoon held its rigidity.

“When you go through hollow stem augers and the spoon bulges, it makes it tough to retrieve as it acts like a wedge,” Hanson said. “The interlocking split spoon comes out much smoother.”

The threads of the 2-inch interlocking split spoon also add split spoon soil sampling operational advantages.

“Threads allow the shoe and top part to be on either end. The stout thread lasts longer,” Hanson said. “They’re also not a fine thread so they don’t require as much turning to assemble.”

He acknowledges assembling the 2-inch interlocking split spoon takes a little learning, but once he got the system down it locks in pretty easily. Other small nuances of the interlocking split spoon also prove beneficial for split spoon soil sampling.

“The side blow out valves point down rather than to the side so when water gives way you have a fighting chance to stay dry,” Hanson said. 

He credits Geoprobe^® “phenomenal” tooling for making jobs easier for the driller.

“Geoprobe^® steps the bar up for everyone else to make it easier for us hands-on guys and gals,” Hanson said. “The interlocking split spoon thread is fantastic — it doesn’t take a lot to put on a shoe. In sand they don’t pull apart in the center. They’re pretty tough — we went through rocks before and just had to file the shoe some. Clearly we love it; we keep getting it.”