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Spoon stressed the mportance of proper tra n ng for dr ng profess ona s. Young oper- ators n part cu ar need an ncent ve to stay n the ndustry. They need to be apprec ated and pa d a decent wage. He sa d there s on y so much a person can earn n c ass; they need mentors most of a to he p deve op the r ta ents. Sc ence, h story, and math were among Spoon s favor te schoo subjects. When he saw a core samp e for the f rst t me, he was “ ke a k d n a candy store... They ve been n the ground m ons of years - musse s, oysters, and c ams are st who e, but now they are mestone too...” A man named W e Patterson s Spoon s mentor to th s day. Patterson took Spoon under h s w ng for over 13 years, teach ng h m dr ng “o d schoo sty e” on a 1939 Fa ng 1500. Spoon expressed grat tude to Mr. Patterson for never g v ng up on h m. He sa d when others te you not to waste your t me on someone you be eve n, don t sten. If you nvest the t me t takes to tru y teach someone, t cou d be worth t. “Look for that d amond n the rough,” sa d Spoon. Mr. Patterson ca ed hm a d amond n the rough, and Spoon h mse f s current y po sh ng a coup e of potent a d amonds. For those nterested n a dr ng career, he suggests g v ng t a try for at east one month. Most mportant y, LISTEN to seasoned dr ng profess ona s as you earn the trade because they re your best source of know edge. “You can earn more n the f e d w th a seasoned dr er than you can n any c ass,” Spoon ment oned. Another p ece of adv ce he offered to those enter ng the workforce s to str ve to be the best and a ways do the best job you can. The Choctawhatchee Bay Bridge Project: An aggress ve schedu e, as we as F or da s unpred ctab e weather and unusua subsurface mater a s were just a few of the obstac es the company was ab e to overcome dur ng th s br dge construct on project. Dr ng n F or da s cha eng ng enough, but dr ng beneath the Choctawhatchee Bay came w th ts own ssues. The Bay s fed pr mar y by the freshwater of the Choctawhatchee R ver wh ch extends we nto A abama, but t s a so fed seawater from the Gu f of Mex co, caus ng cont nua y f uctuat ng sa n ty eve s. The or g na br dge was de- s gned w th three causeways bu t w th organ c mater a s. Over the years, these causeways had sett ed and needed to be stab zed for the new br dge. The eng neers dec ded so m x ng w th port and cement and benton te cou d m n m ze sett ement and create a f rmer foundat on. Dur ng the samp ng process, the team encountered dense ayers of soft c ays and organ cs, or muck as Spoon descr bed t, reach ng up to 50 feet n some areas, wh ch made t d ff cu t to obta n c ean samp es. To so ve th s ssue, they took a samp e, then advanced the cas ng n 5-foot nterva s unt they h t more so d mater a s. Most of the bore depths were around 160 feet be ow the muck w th 140 feet of surface cas ng. Comp et ng th s job took a ded cated team of eng neers, dr ng profess ona s, and peop e w ng to so ve prob ems qu ck y and eff c ent y. W th new samp es arr v ng da y, the Bartow off ce conducted aboratory test ng seven days a week. Us ng two dr r gs, somet mes work ng n ght and day n two sh fts, the company was ab e to comp ete the geotechn ca dr ng and samp ng for th s de- s gn/bu d project two months ahead of schedu e, desp te numerous weather-re ated de ays. The w den ng of U.S. 331 and the Choctawhatchee Bay Br dge w prov de a safer transportat on corr dor between north and south Wa ton County, a ong w th a re ab e way out n the event of a hurr cane. The pos t ve effects of th s expans on are not conf ned to the state of F or da, as U.S. 331 nks A abama and F or da from Interstate 65, as we as Interstate 85 and Interstate 10 from Montgomery, A abama, to the Gu f of Mex co. More than 130 borings, including over 13,300 feet of drilling, were completed from a barge on the bay. Photo courtesy of MEG. 15 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® APRIL 2016