Inspire Harmonised — Drilling

In the DOV database, every observation of ground layers is a bore. In most drills, a hole is made in the substrate with a drill to describe the different soil layers. On the basis of a bore you get an image of the material in the substrate with increasing depth. Depending on the purpose for which the drilling is placed, a suitable drilling method will be applied. Drills are placed for exploratory soil research, sampling of sediment and/or groundwater, determination of soil physical parameters, environmental hygiene, etc. Depending on the depth, type of material, and whether or not drilling below the groundwater table, one can choose from several systems for manual or machine drilling. The soil material released can be used to draw up a profile of the subsoil or to take soil samples from it to carry out further analyses. It is often the intention to build up a well so that water can be extracted (see also groundwater monitoring network and groundwater permits). Sometimes drillings are performed to determine a number of geotechnical characteristics or to carry out scientific research. Superficial observations of the subsurface are also called drillings. Especially around 1900 a number of geologists often described the superficial layers. In the database there are several boreholes with a depth of 0 meters. These are mainly road cuts or visible lithological characteristics along the surface. Linked to the boreholes are also formal interpretations of stratigraphy where available.