Caught between a rock and a hard place
The terrain is entirely rocky, and the presence of quartz and feldspar makes it very tough to penetrate
29/10/2019 , , Ramya Kannan, CHENNAI
As the nation watches Nadukaatupatti intently with bated breath, eager to see if Sujith will make it out alive from the borehole into which he fell, the challenge for the authorities engaged in the rescue operation continues to be the terrain.
While a certain restiveness seems to characterise the wait since the evening of October 25, the ground-level challenges, literally, have slowed down the rescue attempts.
The terrain is entirely rocky, and the presence of quartz and feldspar mineral content makes it very tough to penetrate through. Once the decision was taken to drill a parallel hole and then create a horizontal tunnel to the borehole, machines began digging a 1.2 m-wide tunnel. However, due to the nature of the terrain, the rate of drilling was much slower than anticipated, in turn leading to delays in rescuing Sujith, currently lodged at 88 ft.
“The rate of drilling in the formation using tungsten carbide drills is slow. More pressure cannot be given to the bit, since it will generate a greater vibration that might have disastrous consequences for the hole in which the child has been trapped. Also, with greater vibration, the possibility of burning the core bits also goes up,” says Commissioner of Revenue Administration J. Radhakrishnan.
“The problem is that there is only a few feet of earth from the surface. This is followed by beds of quartz, and then, feldspar, without any relief in the entire area. The bore itself is in solid rock,” explains Dr. Radhakrishnan, who has been overseeing rescue attempts.
According to the Mohs’ Scale of Hardness, indicating the relative hardness value of minerals, quartz is listed at 7, with diamond right on top at 10 (hardest).
Another problem, according to Dr. Radhakrishnan, was that the diameter of the hole into which Sujith fell was a mere 4.5 inches. Since he was stuck in a tight space, attempts to raise him up by his hand or head were also risky, in that limbs might break off from the body. “On television, and with dramatised images, there might be an impression that the hole is much larger. But, in effect, it is just the span of a palm opened up from thumb to little finger. We have to be very careful,” he added.
The terrain is entirely rocky, and the presence of quartz and feldspar makes it very tough to penetrate
29/10/2019 , , Ramya Kannan, CHENNAI
As the nation watches Nadukaatupatti intently with bated breath, eager to see if Sujith will make it out alive from the borehole into which he fell, the challenge for the authorities engaged in the rescue operation continues to be the terrain.
While a certain restiveness seems to characterise the wait since the evening of October 25, the ground-level challenges, literally, have slowed down the rescue attempts.
The terrain is entirely rocky, and the presence of quartz and feldspar mineral content makes it very tough to penetrate through. Once the decision was taken to drill a parallel hole and then create a horizontal tunnel to the borehole, machines began digging a 1.2 m-wide tunnel. However, due to the nature of the terrain, the rate of drilling was much slower than anticipated, in turn leading to delays in rescuing Sujith, currently lodged at 88 ft.
“The rate of drilling in the formation using tungsten carbide drills is slow. More pressure cannot be given to the bit, since it will generate a greater vibration that might have disastrous consequences for the hole in which the child has been trapped. Also, with greater vibration, the possibility of burning the core bits also goes up,” says Commissioner of Revenue Administration J. Radhakrishnan.
“The problem is that there is only a few feet of earth from the surface. This is followed by beds of quartz, and then, feldspar, without any relief in the entire area. The bore itself is in solid rock,” explains Dr. Radhakrishnan, who has been overseeing rescue attempts.
According to the Mohs’ Scale of Hardness, indicating the relative hardness value of minerals, quartz is listed at 7, with diamond right on top at 10 (hardest).
Another problem, according to Dr. Radhakrishnan, was that the diameter of the hole into which Sujith fell was a mere 4.5 inches. Since he was stuck in a tight space, attempts to raise him up by his hand or head were also risky, in that limbs might break off from the body. “On television, and with dramatised images, there might be an impression that the hole is much larger. But, in effect, it is just the span of a palm opened up from thumb to little finger. We have to be very careful,” he added.
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