WorldWide Drilling Resource

A Foundation Drilling Memory - Part 2 by Amy White, Associate Editor WorldWide Drilling Resource ® The Fairchild Construction crew - including my dad, Danny Burgess - con- tinued learning about drilling as they went. Tools fabricated on the job out of necessity had taken the men into the ground as far as they could go, but it still wasn’t far enough. Dad called a drilling company to see if they could help. The company’s first question was, “You are using drilling mud, right?” The sensitive nature of this project on the Suwannee River was explained to the company. The environment had to be taken into consideration; not just anything could be dumped into the water. The environmentally-safe and useful proper- ties of bentonite drilling mud were then explained to Dad. Upon this dramat ic discovery, workers anxiously dumped six bags of unmixed bentonite mud directly into the hole, started drilling, and waited for the magic to happen. The result was six large clumps stuck to the auger. After another phone call, a mixing machine was added to the drilling equa- tion, and “everybody got happy because we were gaining depth again.” Nearby townsfolk were noticing the construction in their midst, and not in a good way. The old Suwannee River Bridge, originally built in the 1930s, was an iconic landmark holding personal con- nections for many people. Construction of a new bridge meant saying goodbye to the old one. Locals loved the view of the old bridge’s magnificent trusses, and travel- ers had a decades-long tradition of mak- ing wishes for good luck as they crossed over the Historic Suwannee River. In the end, the Department of Transportation said the old bridge had to go. However, it didn’t have to go far. One of the bridge’s main trusses was permit- ted to be moved to a nearby park. Dad supervised the removal and placing of the truss in its new home. To this day, the old truss stands as a monument in Fanning Springs Park on the river where it can be admired for generations to come. The Suwannee River Bridge project was completed without any injuries. I asked Dad what was the most memo- rable part of it. Without hesitation he said, “The drilling.” Drilling on this project led my dad to many new adventures. He became a cer- tified open-water diver and performed quality control diving to assess the river bottom after the old bridge structure was blasted. He also had the opportunity to dive into the river and use an underwater torch when the core barrel locked up. My family recently took a trip to the project si te. Standing by the r iver, beneath a bridge that was new 30 years ago, Dad talked about old fr iends who helped construct a drilled shaft foundation against all odds . Some o f h i s friends are no longer here, but way down upon the Suwannee River, a bridge takes him back to them. The Fairchild crew placed the old truss in its new home. Photo by Danny Burgess. Dad and the old truss 30 years later. Dad stands by the Suwannee River. The Joe H. Anderson Sr. Bridge, where he learned valuable lessons about drilling, is in the background. Photos by Lori Burgess Yates. Admiring a firm foundation. Focus on NDA Are you ready to attend the NDA (National Dri l l ing Association) 2014 Convention? It will be October 9-10, at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio. As customary, golfing is first on the agenda, to start at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Cocktail hour in the exhibit area is at 6:30 p.m., followed by the president’s dinner with awards, door prizes, and bingo at 7:30 p.m. WWDR will surely be there for all the fun! Friday is filled with educational pre- sentations interspersed with generous break times to visit the trade show area and speak with company reps about their products and services. You can earn eight professional development hours by attending sessions on topics such as drilling using biodegradable fluid; drilling safety; and subsurface inves- tigation techniques. Register by September 27th for an early bird discount. To get more information about the 2014 NDA Convention, call 877-632-4748 or visit www.nda4u.com David setting up the Hole Products’ display. WWDR ’s Ronnie saw Dennis from Baroid IDP as he got ready to play a round of golf at the 2013 NDA C o n v e n t i o n . WWDR photos. 14 AUGUST 2014 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®