Abstract: A method and apparatus for installing a groundwater sampling device into the ground includes a generally cylindrical housing open at top and bottom end portions and defining a recess therein. An expendable tip member is removably connected to the bottom and portion of the housing. A well tubing or casing is positioned generally centrally in the recess and includes top and bottom end portions. An elongated spiral-wound cylinder is slidably positioned in the recess of the housing and in a surrounding relationship to the tubing. The tubing is attached to the tip member at the bottom end portion thereof and includes a lower section having a plurality of perforations about the periphery thereof to allow fluid to enter the interior of the tubing.

Abstract: The present invention describes a subsurface soil contaminant identificat system method using a cone penetrometer unit for in-situ elemental composition identification in the form of solids, liquids or gasses. Elemental identification is achieved by using atomic spectral analysis of the contaminants that are stimulated by a laser induced breakdown of the soil contaminants to be determined. The system includes a high resolution spectrometer with array detector, a controller for control/data acquisition, a penetrometer push operation controller and data gathering equipment, an optical fiber link to a cone penetrometer with improved optical focusing components. The improved method of using the system entails: i) soil characterization during an initial penetrometer push, then ii) contaminant identification during the penetrometer retrieval phase from a soil bore hole formed during the initial push.

Abstract: An apparatus for assembling two cement board stay-in-place form panels for aking concrete-filled walls that is cost-effective and forms a uniform precise composite wall construction. The assembly includes a coextensive corrugated spacer panel between the form panels for maintaining a uniform distance there between. The forms and spacer panels are secured in place with a notched tie rod that penetrates the spacer and both wall panels, this assembly allows for rapid form installation. The spacer panel has two embodiments, viz. i) a preformed rigid corrugated panel and ii) a flattened unassembled panel with precut fold lines that are folded at the building site and then secured with a dowel-rod bracing component. The apparatus preferably uses fiber-glass-reinforced cement board for the stay-in-place forms. The final composite wall construction typically is made up of 4 feet wide by 8 feet high by 6.5-inch thick composite wall sections.

Abstract: A probe device for in-situ detection of contaminants such as petroleum prcts in a subsurface media such as soil. The device comprises an elongated probe housing which is driven into the media. An ultraviolet lamp located in the housing provides excitation energy which is reflected through a UV transparent window in the housing to the media by at least one reflecting element in the housing. The reflecting element allows longitudinal offset of the lamp from the window providing space for high intensity UV lamps. A radiation receiver receives fluorescent radiation emitted from contaminants in the media transmitted through the window and provides a signal for analysis equipment on the surface. A concentrating reflector between the lamp and the housing and a focusing lens between the lamp and the reflecting element collect and focus excitation energy from the lamp.

Abstract: An improved hanging display sign comprises boxes each having transparent e panels and a slot into which panels displaying letters are inserted to display a message. The letter panels are protected from inclement weather and from tampering by vandals by the transparent face panels and by sealing strips. A cable system is used to hold the boxes in a stack, with each box closing the opening in the top of the box below it. Drawing the cables tight holds the boxes together in a stack to form a weatherproof, vandal-proof display sign.

Abstract: An improved module and assembly for sampling liquids and gases within the ground is characterized by module housings containing sampling cavities having lateral openings to the exterior of the housings. Within each lateral opening a removable insert and piston assembly is provided. The piston is displaceable between open and closed positions within the insert in response to changes in pressure from pressure and vacuum sources. When in the closed position, the piston and insert are flush with the exterior of the housing to prevent contaminants from accumulating at the opening. When the module is inserted to a desired depth in the ground, the piston is displaced to the open position and samples from the soil at the desired depth enter the sampling cavity.

Abstract: An air or gaseous fluid lubricated penetrometer reduces friction between the soil and the push rod string. Air is pumped into the interior of the string and is directed by exit ports into the annular space between the soil and the outer walls of the string. Without damaging the soil, the air prevents the soil from adhering to the sides of the string and thereby reduces frictional forces that restrict the downward movement thereof. The exit ports in the string are located above the instrument housing so that accurate measurements can be made on the soil properties.

Abstract: A well installation preform for locating and dispensing granular materials nto a bore hole around the screen of a well casing is disclosed. A cylindrical sleeve containing a liner is assembled about the screen end of the well casing. The space between the sleeve and the well casing is filled with an ordered layer of granular material including a filter material adjacent the screen, a sealing material above the filter material and the screen and a quantity of filler material above the sealing material. The lower end of the sleeve is blocked while the preform is lowered into the well. The sleeve is thereafter removed whereby the liner is everted and the granular material is uniformly dispensed about the well casing in the bore hole. The sealing material forms a seal above the filter material for establishing an isolated filtration zone about the screen. A method of constructing the well using the preform and the resulting well structure is also disclosed.

Abstract: A reagent carrying tape is captured between the soil and the outer wall of penetrometer. As the penetrometer moves with respect to the soil, the tape is pressed against an optical window in the penetrometer. Contaminants in the soil reacting with the reagents cause an optically sensible reaction in the tape to occur which is optically detected at the optical port as the penetrometer moves with respect to the tape and the soil sample. The optically sensible reaction occurring in the tape is optically isolated from the masking effects of the soil. A method is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for real time, on-site detection and analysis of caminant in soil, the invention continuously measures and records specific spectral properties of potentially contaminated soil along a typically vertical profile as a soil penetrating probe of the invention penetrates the soil. The probe is fitted with a light transparent window and a light source disposed internally of the probe. Light from internally of the probe passes through the window and is reflected back through the window from the soil as the probe passes through the soil, the light reflected from the soil back through the window being collected by a fiber optic link within the probe. The collected light is then transmitted through the fiber optic link to the surface for measurement and recordation of spectral distribution and intensity.

Abstract: An explosive stemming device for dispensing granular material into a boree containing an explosive charge therein is disclosed as including a cylindrical member having a flexible sleeve-like liner adapted to conform to the interior thereof when filled with granular material. One end of the liner is turned around an end of the cylindrical member and secured thereto while the other end of the liner is fixed to a centrally positioned pipe whereby extracting of the member containing granular material from the borehole causes everting or turning inside out of the liner and dispensing of the material in the borehole.