Reviews & Stories from the field
My specialty area is urban development, which normally requires access into relatively tight spots. Often times the WILDCAT is the best, easiest and least expensive way of procuring data!
- Bohdan Pazuniak, P.E., LEED, Principal --- BP Geotech, Inc. Jenkintown, PA
My first experience using the STORK was to perform DCP testing on the site of a bowling alley remodel, soon to become a self-storage facility. Working inside an existing building, the ease of use and mobility of the STORK turned what was estimated to be a full-day job into only a couple hours of easy work for just myself. I would highly recommend the STORK.
-Ethan Morin, G.I.T, ECS
“We have used the WILDCAT DCP on a lake with 2 row boats tied together, in a canal while wearing chest waders, in silts that sucked our bodies in, and soon, we will use it from a floating platform that we will tow to the middle of a creek so we can test at a bridge pier. (The Wildcat is a) great work out and works out great. We’re able to obtain useful information for recommendations and evaluations, especially hard to reach areas. (Triggs has) great customer service and quick turn around of purchases. We have adventures using our WILDCAT!”
- Perry Gopp, Field Manager, GPD Group
A success story from the field…
The Challenge: a very small, old, Cleveland area cemetery had fallen into disrepair and been vandalized. Some headstones remained; others had been scattered. Records showing ownership of the graves were burned years prior in a fire, but city officials estimated ½ of the sites remain unused. Area residents had been inquiring about buying plots in this cemetery, and the city was interested in selling. But first, they had to determine which sites housed coffins (no vaults were used for these burials 100+ years ago), and which sites were, in fact, available.
The Solution: The WILDCAT DCP! Because the cemetery property is in an area of glacial till where ice sheets spread and compacted clayey soils over the bedrock 20,000 years ago, the WILDCAT could be used to identify areas that were never excavated, versus areas where grave excavation disturbed glacial compaction. In fact, the WILDCAT was used to test 99 potential grave sites and surrounding, never excavated areas. Soft landfill was discovered and considered when determining appropriate testing depths. Testing extended about 80 centimeters into the ground, passing through landfill, and penetrating the soil below, yielding blow counts that corresponded to the soil having previously been, or not been, excavated.
The city was then able to construct an accurate map of the cemetery, and plots were designated as in-use resting places, or available for purchase for future use.
Interestingly, the WILDCAT operator for this job was also its inventor, Fred Triggs. It was during the cemetery exploration that he realized the need for a hammer-lifter, and shortly thereafter, he created the STORK. He was 69 years old at that time, and did all the testing himself, and by his own muscle.