Abstract: A device for performing soil inspection by means of a tube to be driven into the soil, comprising driving means which grip around the tube substantially coaxially said driving means comprising either a cylinder with a hollow piston rod or pairs of opposed driving wheels. Auxiliary means are provided for facilitating soil inspection operations with such a device, such as an improved pressing and pulling head, and means for signal transfer from a measuring cone towards measuring instruments at the soil surface.

Abstract: A method and a device for introducing a tubular assembly into the soil, which assembly consists of two or more elongated strips with a curved cross-section, made of an elastically flexible material, which strips are unwound from corresponding drums and are being united at adjacent edges when being unwound, and are separated again when being rewound on said drums. The driving force is derived from the rotational movement of said drums. The assembly can be used for introducing drainage tape into the soil, for introducing a sounding probe into the soil, for cutting soil samples and for similar purposes.

Abstract: An apparatus for use in soil sounding in which a probe is mounted on a vehicle includes an improved simple device for monitoring the displacement of a reference surface from the ground level in order to provide an accurate indication of the position of the probe. One sensor indicates the displacement of the probe and the reference surface, which displacement is greater than the actual displacement of the probe into the ground. Another sensor indicates the displacement of the reference surface relative to the ground, these displacements being imputs to a subtractor which provides an output representative of the true displacement of the probe relative to the ground level.