Today was an especially exciting day out at the well site. Stehly Brothers Drilling Co installed over 300 feet of 10 inch steel casing down through the clay and into the rock. You may remember an earlier update when an 8 inch, temporary casing was installed when we first broke through the clay. The new casing is larger, to allow for more water to be pumped out and is also permanent, surrounded by concrete. The concrete was the exciting part.
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| Paul Stehly prepping the two inch pipe |
I hate allowing large machinery on a golf course and concrete trucks are the heaviest of the heavies. In this instance, we have no choice and have to make the best of it. The good news is, the truck did not get stuck and the fairway still looks like a fairway. Nearly the entire crew helped lay and move plastic mats to protect the turf from some tire damage. We will have a bit of renovation to do in this well-traveled construction path, but it will be back to normal shortly after all the trucks, trailers, and drill rigs make their exodus.
The concrete was pumped through a homemade contraption, down a two inch pipe to the bottom of the hole. Air is forced into the 10 inch casing, so the only place the concrete can go is up and around the steel pipe. As the concrete is pumped in, the mud in the hole slowly exits through the top. When the concrete starts bubbling up, the job is done.
Next up, a ten inch hole will be drilled and an 8 inch casing will be installed past 600 feet. The finish line is near.
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| All done, with a small concrete pad around the well. |
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| Concrete being pumped down the casing. |
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