Australia’s Leader in Sonic Drilling
Sonic Legion - Australia’s Leading Sonic Drilling Contractor
About Legion Drilling
Legion Drilling is Australia’s premier sonic drilling company with extensive experience across all states, delivering advanced sonic drilling solutions from our depots in Brisbane, Townsville, and Sydney. Our highly skilled sonic drillers are certified with Certificate III in Drilling Operations and hold at least a Class 1 Water-Well licence, ensuring every project meets the highest standards of safety, efficiency, and accuracy.
Comprehensive Sonic Drilling Services
With six powerful, crawler-mounted sonic rigs and dedicated drilling crews, Legion Drilling is ready to tackle complex projects across mine sites, tailings facilities, dams, defence sites, landfill, and major infrastructure projects. Our rigs are fully compliant with requirements for BMA, Rio Tinto, QAL, and Glencore mining sites, making us the trusted choice for mining and infrastructure drilling projects.
Benefits of Sonic Drilling Technology
1. Maximise Sample Recovery Our sonic drill rigs operate by advancing a concentric hollow drill pipe that utilizes both rotation and axial vibration. This method holds the borehole open using temporary casing, allowing nearly intact cuttings to be removed for precise stratigraphy examination before sampling or disposal. For flowing sands, we can stabilize the casings with potable water, preventing excess entry of formation materials. This technique provides unmatched sample integrity and continuous recovery.
2. Minimise Waste and Maximise Sample Volume Sonic drilling produces minimal waste as it eliminates the need for auger flights or winged bits. With borehole diameters kept to a minimum, the high ratio of sample size to bore diameter makes this method ideal for soil investigations and projects requiring large, accurate samples up to 230mm in diameter.
3. Fast and Efficient Aquifer Isolation Sonic drilling is extremely effective for perched and secondary aquifer isolation. By setting large-diameter casings into confining layers, we achieve secure aquifer isolation. This technique allows for confident penetration through unconsolidated zones into deeper layers, delivering accurate sampling at the interface between zones.
4. Effective Mineral Exploration Sonic drilling is particularly effective in challenging environments for mineral exploration. With near 100% sample recovery, even in difficult-to-penetrate formations, our sonic drilling methods overcome sample loss and core recovery issues faced by traditional diamond coring.
5. Optimal for Leachate and Gas Extraction Wells Our sonic drilling method is the leading choice for leachate injection/extraction bores and gas monitoring wells in landfill projects. Sonic rigs provide precise vertical profiling and continuous recovery, ensuring accurate identification of landfill linings and confining layers, surpassing conventional Geoprobe® and geotechnical drilling methods.
6. Overwater Sonic Drilling For overwater geotechnical barge drilling, such as in Sydney Harbour, Legion Drilling’s sonic methods offer unmatched sampling in soft seabed and river floor sediments. Unlike typical geotechnical rigs, sonic rigs penetrate deeper into competent formations while holding the bore open with casing, making it a preferred choice in Australia’s busiest water channels.
7. Sonic Drilling for Geothermal Installations For geothermal applications, sonic drilling offers a fast, cost-effective solution capable of drilling, casing, looping, and grouting in a single step. This streamlined approach minimizes waste, reduces project timelines, and efficiently handles a wide range of geological formations.
Why Choose Legion Drilling for Sonic Drilling?
Experienced Team: Our drillers are certified and skilled in handling complex geotechnical, environmental, and mining projects.
State-of-the-Art Equipment: With advanced sonic rigs and technology, we ensure accuracy, speed, and minimal environmental impact.
Australia-Wide Service: Operating from depots in Brisbane, Townsville, and Sydney, Legion Drilling serves all states with reliable and efficient sonic drilling services.
Choose Legion Drilling for reliable and innovative sonic drilling services in Australia. Contact us today to learn how we can support your project with high-performance drilling solutions tailored to your specific needs.
Geotechnical Investigations with Sonic
Advantages of Sonic Drilling for Geotechnical and Contaminated Land Investigations
Sonic drilling offers unique advantages for geotechnical investigations and contaminated land investigations, providing faster, more accurate, and cleaner sample recovery in complex subsurface conditions. Whether dealing with soft sediment, gravels, sands, waste rock or overwater sites, Legion Drilling’s sonic technology is the preferred solution for efficient and reliable data collection across Australia.
For geotechnical investigations, sonic drilling offers several advantages:
1. High-Quality, Continuous Core Sampling - Sonic core and diamond core
Sonic drilling’s vibration and rotation methods provide near-intact, continuous core samples, allowing geotechnical engineers to accurately assess soil stratigraphy, subsurface characteristics, and material composition. This high-quality data supports detailed foundation design, soil stability assessments, and load-bearing capacity evaluations for infrastructure projects. Legions sonic drill rigs are fitted with diamond coring heads to ensure we can collect diamond tails from competent rock required for geotechnical investigations.
2. Faster Drilling Speed
Compared to traditional drilling, sonic drilling significantly reduces time on-site due to its rapid penetration capabilities. This accelerated process minimizes project timelines, allowing geotechnical teams to conduct thorough investigations while saving on labor and equipment costs.
3. Adaptability Across Variable Soil & Rock Conditions
Sonic drilling performs well in diverse soil conditions, from soft clays to dense sands and even bedrock. This adaptability is essential for geotechnical projects in varied Australian terrains, particularly in urban areas like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, where soil profiles can be complex and require seamless transitions between materials.
4. Minimal Environmental Impact
Sonic drilling produces less waste than traditional methods, as it eliminates the need for augers or winged bits. The reduced quantity of cuttings means less environmental disturbance, a critical factor in urban or ecologically sensitive areas where geotechnical investigations must comply with strict environmental guidelines.
Contaminated Land Investigations with sonic
For contaminated land investigations, sonic drilling provides a distinct advantage by ensuring sample integrity and minimal disturbance to the contaminated site:
1. Precise, Undisturbed Samples for Accurate Contaminant Profiling
Sonic drilling’s technique captures samples with minimal mixing or contamination, making it ideal for precise environmental assessments and contaminant profiling. This accuracy is essential for understanding the spread and concentration of contaminants, enabling effective remediation planning and risk assessment.
2. Reduced Cross-Contamination Risks
Unlike conventional drilling, which can disturb soil layers and spread contaminants, sonic drilling’s casing system isolates the borehole, preventing cross-contamination. This method ensures that contaminants remain confined to their original layers, allowing for an accurate vertical profile essential for site assessments.
3. Ideal for Challenging and Sensitive Sites
Contaminated sites often require special handling due to hazardous materials, groundwater contamination, or unstable soils. Sonic drilling provides a safer, more controlled drilling solution in these conditions, allowing for successful sampling without the need for excess drilling fluid, which can mobilize contaminants further.
4. Compliance with Environmental Regulations
Sonic drilling meets or exceeds regulatory requirements for contaminated site investigations by minimizing site disturbance and providing accurate, high-quality samples. This compliance is critical for sites undergoing regulatory scrutiny, as it ensures data reliability and supports informed decision-making in remediation efforts.
Legion Drilling’s sonic drilling services for geotechnical and contaminated land investigations deliver reliable, environmentally responsible, and efficient solutions for assessing and managing subsurface conditions across Australia. By choosing our sonic technology, you gain high-precision data essential for safe and successful project execution.