Soil Sampling Tools

For undisturbed soil sampling we supply the following tools:

  • U100 Samplers and U70 Samplers – used for obtaining undisturbed samples in most soils and some weak rocks. The U100 sampler gives a nominal 100 mm (4”) diameter sample and the U70 gives a nominal 70 mm diameter sample.
  • Shelby Tube Sampler – thin-walled sampler used in cohesive soils, the sample tube is advanced into the soil layer, generally 150 mm less than the length of the tube. The vacuum created by the check valve and cohesion of the sample in the tube cause the sample to be retained when the tube is withdrawn.
  • Piston Sampler – thin-walled metal tubes which contain a piston at the tip. The apparatus is lowered into the bottom of a borehole with the piston remaining at the surface of the soil while the tube slides past it. This sampler will return undisturbed samples in soft soils, but it can difficult to advance in sands and stiff clays, and can be if gravel is encountered
  • Pitcher Sampler – designed specifically to recover accurate samples from formations that are too hard for thin-walled samplers or too brittle, soft or water-sensitive to be recovered by conventional core barrel samplers.

For environmental soil sampling we supply the following tools:

  • Window Sampler – a relatively thick walled series of sample tubes each with one or more “windows” cut into the side of the tube. The sampler is driven into the ground; on extraction samples required for analysis can be collected through the windows.
  • Windowless Sampler – as above but lacking the windows but incorporating instead a clear PVC liner from which a continuous soil core can be extracted.