Drill Rig Provides "Real" Experience for Civil Engineering Students at the University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has added a Central Mine Equipment (CME) 45B to their geotechnical education equipment. The drill rig is equipped with an automatic SPT hammer, split-spoon sampler, hollow-stem augers and thin-wall-tube sampling equipment. This equipment has greatly benefited the department's objective of preparing future engineers for the world of geotechnical engineering. The equipment is being assimilated into the undergraduate experience in subsurface exploration, sample processing and data interpretation.

In the junior level Introduction to Soil Behavior course, students are taken into the field where they assist with collecting samples and performing a geotechnical investigation using the drill rig. The drill rig is operated by the Laboratory Manager/Instructor and thoroughly trained upper-level students. The students in the class assist as instructed and are responsible for recording boring logs and properly collecting and processing all samples.

Senior students participate in a Senior Design course that is usually a "real" project, incorporating most of the sub-disciplines within civil engineering including geotechnical investigation. The students are divided into teams responsible for different aspects of the engineering work of the project. The geotechnical team puts together a proposal to secure geotechnical services from a team in the junior level introductory course. The proposal includes specifications of boring locations, required samples and identification of lab tests necessary for the project. Teams in the introductory class submit competitive proposals and statements of qualifications for providing the geotechnical services. This "sub-contractor" program offers some exposure to the process of proposals and competitive services.

The successful team from the introductory class is responsible for going to the field with the drill rig and trained operators and instructing the drill rig operators on the location of bore holes and required sampling. The students are responsible for maintaining complete boring logs, collecting samples and processing the "real" samples in the laboratory. They are also expected to assist with the drilling operations as instructed by the trained operators.

The senior students are exposed to concepts such as consideration of the number and depth of borings, the number and type of samples and lab tests, and routine tasks such as the clearance of utilities prior to drilling. The senior students must make design decisions based on actual data. The junior level students are exposed to drilling equipment, operation and fieldwork related to geotechnical investigations. They have the opportunity to contribute data to a real design project.

Carefully selected and trained students are given the opportunity to become very familiar with the drilling rig operation and are given some responsibility in carrying out simple geotechnical investigation tasks. The Laboratory Manager/Instructor also hopes to use the drill rig and other department facilities to offer short courses related to geotechnical investigation to people outside of the university.

The department is very grateful for the service, assistance and patience of the Central Mine Equipment Company of Earth City, Mo., The New Coastal Ford Dealership of Mobile, Ala. and Master Drillers Incorporated of Knoxville, Tenn. Their advice and service helped make this educational tool a reality.

This article was written by N. Randy Rainwater and Eric C. Drumm. N.Randy Rainwater manages the Geotechnology and Infrastructure Materials Laboratories for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville,Tenn. He is also the laboratory instructor for two undergraduate laboratory classes - Introduction to Soil Behavior and Materials of Construction.

Eric C. Drumm is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and conducts research in geotechnical engineering. His research has been related to the mechanical and hydraulic properties of soil and the application of numerical models in geotechnical engineering. In addition to university teaching and research activities, he has served as a geotechnical and instrumentation consultant to both government agencies and private corporations.

Resources:
University of Tennessee Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Phone: 865- 974-3355
Fax: 865-974-2669
E-mail: nrainwat@utk.edu Central Mine Equipment 4215 Rider Trail North Earth City, MO 63045 Tel: 800-325-8827 Fax: 314-291-4880 E-mail: info@cmeco.com