| One of Land-Drill's most exciting projects of recent months has been our involvement in the proposed construction of five wind turbines for the B.B.C. on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. We were recommended for the project by a top German turbine specialist, and this resulted in Senior Environmental Geologist, Eve Muirhead swapping the snow-capped mountains of Inverness for the ferocious heat of the small South Atlantic island.
Ascension Island is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, midway between Africa and South America and is the tip of a 3,200m high, 60km wide shield volcano sticking out above the water.
In geological terms, Ascension is very young compared to the U.K, and the relatively fresh appearance of some lava flows suggest eruptions as recently as the last 1000 years. This results in ground conditions significantly different to those Eve would be used to back home.
Trial pits were dug at each of the five locations and samples taken of the very limited soils available, The rock was then broken at the base of the pit and samples taken for strength testing. Eve commented "It was a very arduous dig because of an initial 7 hour drive immediately followed by a 9 hour flight which was then followed by a hair-raising drive in what seemed a locally produced car that was only interested in turning left".
Although, as Eve pointed out, it's this diversity of jobs that keeps working for Land-Drill interesting and fresh.
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