Geological Drilling – Stanton & Leader Landslides

Location
Stanton & Leader Landslides

Drilling Project Brief
Engaged by ‘Kaikoura EIL Research’ (EIL is Earthquake Induced Landslide) to drill a series of PQ size core holes through some of the biggest landslides that were a result of the 2016 earthquakes between Waiau and Kaikoura.
The purpose of the project is to gain understanding of how these landslides occurred, why they had failed, in order to understand a whole lot more about failures of this nature.

We mobilised 2 proprietary core drilling rigs, one track mounted to access the Stanton landslide, and our heliportable rig for the inaccessible locations on the Leader landslide. Drilling is by PQ continuous core.

Drilling Equipment Used

Hanjin D8D Drill Rig – Track Mounted Geotechnical Drill.
QM750 Drill Rig – Purpose Built for Helicopter Transportation.

Drilling Project Challenges

Multiple river crossings on a daily basis.
2 unseasonal rain events causing extreme flooding.
Difficult access to drill sites.
Rock fall on 1 location .
And of all things, an earthquake.

Outcome

This project has been a rewarding and very challenging project for our skilled staff. Everyone has overcome the many and varied challenges within this extreme working environment.

Landslide Drilling Videos

Below are links to 2 videos from this project that you may find interesting and enlightening.