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The Drillers, Rigs, Rock and Hart of the Chile Mine Rescue
As 33 trapped miners waited more than 2,000-ft underground for their rescue, a whole team of Chilean government officials, mining engineers, equipment manufacturers and of course drillers came together get the job done. Jeff Hart, a driller from Denver, Colorado was one of the stars of the day. Hart was in Afghanistan drilling deep water wells when he got the call and hopped on a plane. He works for Kansas-based Layne Christensen, and along with 3 other Layne employees, he manned the Schramm T130 drill rig that was part of “Plan B” that eventually became the shaft from which the trapped miners were rescued.
On the drilling platform overseeing the drilling was James Stefanic of Layne, and crew members Matt Staffel, Doug Reeves and Jorge Herrera. The rig and I presume some of the support equipment was owned by Layne’s Latin America affiliate, Geotec Boyles Bros, SA. The drill bits were from Center Rock, Inc. of Berlin, Pennsylvania. The Center Rock CEO, Brandon Fisher, was on site throughout the operation as well.
Read on for more info, photos, video and links on the drilling, drillers and geology of the Chile Mine rescue.
Rockman's Ramblings
Retraction and Apology – Drilling Accident in Ontario Canada
Yesterday I received a forwarded email from a fellow geotechnical engineer and former coworker regarding a fatal accident involving a hollow stem auger drill rig in the Lindsay area of Ontario Canada on October 8th. […]
Miscellaneous
NASSPA Website Has New FAQ on Steel Sheet Piles
The North American Steel Sheet Piling Association (NASSPA) recently posted a FAQ on steel sheet piles to their website. A few example questions: What is steel sheet piling? What are the advantages of hot-rolled sheet […]