Zipliner Technology: Improving Safety and Implementability of Direct-Push Soil Sampling

One of the most common tasks in characterizing environmental sites is the collection of soil samples using direct-push tools with rigid, plastic liner sleeves. These sampling sleeves have traditionally been opened using sharp metal blades that pose a serious hazard and have caused laceration injuries. Also, the tearing action of the blade can leave a jagged edge at the line of opening, which itself creates a laceration risk. The objective of this study was to develop and test a patent-pending design for a sampling sleeve that can be opened without a sharp blade, thus improving safety and field implementability.

Zipliner technology (U.S. patent application number 13/161,863) was invented by ARCADIS. Geotech Environmental Equipment, Inc. holds the trademark and license to manufacture Zipliner sleeves for use with AMS PowerProbe direct-push sampling equipment. Zipliner prototypes were tested in the field in shallow, fine- and coarse-grained soils (up to 6 meters depth). Zipliner sleeves were opened in the field using a battery-powered drill with a specially designed bit known as a "ZipTool", or with needle-nose pliers.

The tested Zipliner prototypes operated comparable to standard liner sleeves under the test situations. They also opened successfully without a sharp blade; the only exception was an occurrence of zip tab breakage during opening in freezing winter conditions. Even in this situation, however, the Zipliner sleeve was easier and safer to open with a blade compared to standard sleeves, because of the linear "scores" where the wall thickness is reduced. Additional use in various geologic settings and depths may lead to further design refinement and will provide an understanding of the full range of Zipliner applicability in terms of depth, geologic settings and temperature conditions. Future planned developments include the manufacture of Zipliner prototypes for use with other types of drilling equipment.