Geotechnical and geophysical investigation, Houston Ship Channel

Wood Group Mustang, Inc. (WGMI) was designing two directionally drilled utility conduits beneath the Houston Ship Channel. Successful drilling would require knowledge of the sedimentary strata that underlie the channel as well as the locations of existing pipelines and tunnels that could obstruct the path of the directional drill.

e4sciences drilled, sampled and mapped the subsurface sediments and performed sonar, seismic, and magnetic surveys to detect and locate the pipelines, tunnels and obstructions in the ship channel. e4sciences measured the channel bathymetry and determined the stratigraphy beneath the channel.

The seismic and magnetic data revealed existing horizontal directional drills (HDDs) at 65-ft and 80-ft depths, and a pipeline tunnel of 12-ft diameter with its top at 48-ft depth. e4sciences determined that the planned HDD trajectory would intersect near-surface pipelines on the south side of the channel. After WGMI planned new locations and received permits for the new locations, e4sciences returned to conduct additional surveys in the ship channel. e4sciences delivered the locations of subsurface pipelines and tunnels in a live 3D AutoCAD file that WGMI engineers could use to plan HDD construction.