Remediation professionals are becoming increasingly knowledgeable that a horizontal well can be successfully employed to access and remediate impacted media beneath buildings. The directional drill rig sets up outside the building and the horizontal well is installed without disrupting the business operations. Directional Technologies, Inc. is the nation’s expert horizontal remediation well drilling contractor and is continually installing new applications for horizontal wells.
- Horizontal well installed under a building.
Did you know that a horizontal well can also be successfully used to access/remediate sensitive environments? For example, a horizontal well can be installed beneath wetlands to collect discrete subsurface soil samples as part of a site assessment. A
horizontal well with a long well screen many hundreds of feet long can be installed beneath wetlands to enable in situ remediation activities to proceed. The directional drill rig sets up at a suitable location away from the wetland “foot print” and installs the
horizontal well without any disruption to the sensitive surficial environment.
Did you know that it is feasible to install a horizontal well beneath a water body (lake, stream or river) to collect discrete sediment and/or soil samples and to implement in
situ remediation activities? The keys to success are fully understanding the site’s lithology and carefully managing drilling fluid pressures to minimize the risk of “frac-our”, a condition that allows drilling fluid to migrate away from the bore, sometime reaching the surface. A highly experienced horizontal directional drilling firm like Directional Technologies, Inc. has the expert technical directional drilling staff and experience to successfully execute these types of assignments. Although a substantive
pilot test would have to be performed first to establish critical operating parameters. It is also feasible to introduce in situ remediation reagents into subsurface water body sediments using a horizontal well.
A horizontal well could be used to introduce in situ stabilizers (chemical grouts of various formulations) to immobilize heavy metals such as arsenic. Directional Technologies, Inc. was approached by a major chemical manufacturer to discuss the feasibility of performing a pilot test to immobilize arsenic at a site in the northeast US.
As you can see, a horizontal well be used with many different applications to remediate areas with limited access. For more conventional or traditional uses of a horizontal well, please visit our Case Studies tab, our Symposium Presentation tab and our Horizontal Remediation Well tab. We welcome the opportunity to discuss a possible horizontal well project, please contact us at drilling@directionaltech.com or 1-877-788-4HRW.