National Driller Magazine published an article by P. James DiFatta in its May edition regarding over-the-water drilling platforms, highlighting two projects for which Eustis Engineering provided geotechnical drilling services. The article, excerpted below, provided details about the challenging projects.
Eustis Engineering personnel prepare to set up and drill the first soil boring in Lake Pontchartrain for a project that will add safety bays to the Causeway.
"In early 2018, Shallow Draft was the trusted source for providing the over-the-water drilling platform in Lake Pontchartrain, just north of New Orleans. Eustis Engineering L.L.C., a well-known and longtime player in major over-the-water geotechnical projects along the Gulf Coast, provided the geotechnical data acquisition along the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge — a stretch of more than 24 miles. Sampling along both sides of the bridge (spanning nearly 50 miles) on an extremely time-sensitive project, their crews worked double shifts 24/7 and completed the project on time and on budget, despite whipped-up sea conditions brought by several brutal cold fronts.
Post Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) erected its all-time largest construction project. It is referred to and known locally as 'The Great Wall,' and it protects New Orleans from hurricane storm surges. Shallow Draft was called on to provide over-the-water geotechnical drilling platforms for that project by Eustis Engineering L.L.C. Later, the USACE project — slated as the largest pumping station in the U.S. and located on the Intracoastal Waterway near New Orleans — was designed and, again, Shallow Draft provided the geotechnical stable drilling platform.”