WorldWide Drilling Resource

Is Grout Necessary? by John Christ J.C.’s Drilling Consultant When we drill a hole for whatever reason, we create cuttings. So, why do we have to get special equipment and buy yet another product, just so we can fill the annular space? We already have these cuttings we’re going to have to do something with anyway. Why can’t we use them to fill the annular space? Let me ask you a question, how long did it take to disrupt and create those cuttings? Well, it took whatever time it took to drill the well! Okay, how long did it take Mother Nature to create the soil that was drilled? I’m not sure, but I assume it was a long time. What does that have to do with it? It has everything to do with it. It took millions of years, temperature, and pressure to create the ground. We are not going to have the time, temperature, or pressure it took Mother Nature to create what we drilled up. When we fill the annular space with those cuttings, they are going to have porosity. Porosity is the connecting space in between the grains of soil. We will fill up the hole, but as gravity creates the settling of the cuttings, the space between the grains of soil become smaller. The column shrinks and goes down. So, the next day we come and put more cuttings in there. We may have to do this numerous times. Every time we have to go fix a well is time, and time is money. Now that we have the annular space full, let’s talk about the porosity. Porosity is those connecting spaces, which means some- thing can flow between them. So let’s say this happens to be a water well and there is a contaminant spill nearby. It rains and the contaminant now has a carrier to move it. The well happens to be down from the spill and ponds around the casing on the surface. We have those freshly drilled cuttings (even if the well is years old) with the porosity, giving the contaminant an avenue to the water source. It doesn’t matter what type of hole we are drilling. It doesn’t matter how we drill the hole. We need to fill the annular space with something which meets or exceeds what was there in the first place. There is no one grout to fit every application. This is why there are so many different grouts available. So anytime you direct push for a soil sample or drill any type of hole, think about sealing it up before you do it. We don’t plan to fail, sometimes we fail to plan! The statements and comments in this article are based on in- formation and references believed to be true and factual. If you have any questions or comments, please forward them to me in care of WWDR . John John Christ may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com 15 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JUNE 2016