The Shaft Quantitative Inspection Device (SQUID) system is a new technology for quantitatively assessing the quality of the bottom surface of a bored pile or drilled shaft. It measures both the thickness of soft material or debris that may be covering the bearing strata, providing a force and displacement in numerical and graphical form.

An important part of bored pile construction is the cleaning and inspection of the bottom of the hole prior to the placement of reinforcement and concrete. To achieve cleaning once drilling is complete, a cleanout bucket is typically used to remove any material unsuitable for end bearing support. Bottom inspection is then performed, often by lowering a camera down the bore hole, a procedure that gives a rough idea of the thickness of any debris left at the bottom. To improve the inspection method, SQUID takes accurate displacement and penetrometer measurements, providing an objective, quantitative assessment.

The system includes: the SQUID Body, with a drill stem adaptor, typically three contact plates, instrumented cone penetrometers and displacement transducers; a cable reel; a wireless transmitter; and the SQUID main unit. The penetrometers have standard 10 cm² tip area.

SHAPE® is a cost-effective quality assurance testing device used for deep foundations such as drilled shafts, slurry walls, barrettes and more to determine the excavation verticality and profile. It provides superior performance over testing limitations experienced with a sonic caliper due to density of slurry walls.Drilled shafts are rarely ideal cylinders and irregularities can affect capacity and design. SHAPE® better characterizes the three-dimensional shape of drilled shafts, bored piles and other excavated deep foundation elements. SHAPE® provides a fast, economical visual representation of the foundation verticality prior to placing concrete in wet or dry excavations. The results of SHAPE measurement provide more details compared to other sonic caliper tools.

SHAPE® offers:
• Two systems to fit your excavation needs – SHAPE for wet pours; SHAPE-AIR for dry shafts
• Quick connection to Kelly bar or can be used with an optional winch system
• Multi-channel ultrasonic device to scan the sidewall condition of wet pour drilled shafts (SHAPE standard)
• Multi-channel Lidar sensor device to scan the sidewalls of a dry excavation (SHAPE-AIR)
• Wireless acquisition calculations of shaft profile to determine shaft verticality, radius, and volume
• Data acquisition at a rate of approximately one (1) scan per second
• Eight (8) channels scanned simultaneously SHAPE’s drilling stem advancement rate is approximately one (1) foot per second,
offering 360˚, 2D and 3D profile views.
• Remote testing available with SiteLink® Connect Technology

Patent No. 10330823

The SHAPE® conforms to ASTM Standard D8232 – Standard Test Procedures for Measuring the Inclination of Deep Foundations.

THERMAL INTEGRITY PROFILING WITH THERMAL AGGREGATOR (TAG) AND THERMAL ACQUISITION PORT (TAP-EDGE) DATA COLLECTION

Thermal Integrity Profiling (TIP) is an award-winning technology that utilizes heat generated by curing of concrete to assess the integrity and quality of drilled shafts, augured cast in place (ACIP) piles and other concrete foundations. The critical time for recording TIP data occurs during the hydration process, until peak concrete temperature is reached. Temperatures should be recorded at a minimum time of half peak and again at peak. PDI’s TAG units can be used to collect TIP data from multiple TAP Edge (Thermal Acquisition Port) boxes attached to a foundation, sending the data via a cellular modem to the Cloud. The TAG allows engineers, designers and the contractor to see the data all at once, in real time, from any location.

INNOVATIVE DATA COLLECTION

TIP data is collected by the Thermal Wire® Cable system which includes accurate, NIST traceable cables fitted with digital thermal sensors spaced along the cable length and TAP Edges. The Thermal Wire cables are attached to the reinforcing cage prior to concreting. In general, one cable is installed per each 305 mm (one foot) of shaft diameter. A TAP Edge is connected to each Thermal Wire cable, and automatically samples data from that cable at user selected time intervals, typically every 15 minutes. Temperatures obtained throughout the concrete curing process are saved in each TAP Edge, and may be viewed at any time, via the TAG data upload to the Cloud, once data collection begins. The expected temperature at any location is dependent on the shaft diameter, mix design, time of measurement and distance to the center of the shaft.