The drillers brought their rig on Tuesday, 29th May, getting access through a gap in the fence between the Rhododendren bed and the cycle track, which had been created by the Community Payback team. Drilling was underway by 10:15 am, but at 1:30pm they were 9m down and still in sand and gravel. At 3pm they finally struck the hoped for sandstone at 12m and by 4pm they had drilled 23m through it, to the planned depth of 35m. By 6pm the rig had gone, leaving only a short length of outer casement and liner exposed, with a large cork in it!
They returned on Friday to install the pump (which is suspended in the hole), a flow meter, and tidy up, constructing two underground access chambers. A test run with a portable generator produced a flow rate of about 1 litre/second (3.6 cu meters/hour), which looks promising. The final steps for this phase of the project are to reinstate the railings, make good the area and connect up the pump to the electricity supply.
The rig arrives on site, narrowly avoiding lawn one.
The rig is manouvered into position.
Drilling commences
Another length of casement is needed …
… while the drill bit is disconnected.
The extra length of casement is attached – still in the sand and gravel.
Sandstone and water struck at 12m
And not long afterwards they have drilled a further 23m and the rig has gone, leaving only a short length of liner and casement showing.