Inventor Track-Truck outdoes itself time and again

For over fifty years, A.P. van den Berg has been designing and supplying advanced CPT equipment for onshore, offshore and near shore ground investigation with an emphasis on Cone Penetration Testing (CPT). Innovation is in the company's DNA; the company's founder was the inventor of the versatile and still very popular Track-Truck CPT vehicle some 35 years ago. A conversation with general manager Mark Woollard about the latest developments in CPT, including a real CPT robot.

CPT is a Dutch technology for which A.P. van den Berg has been developing high-performance solutions for more than half a century now. "We have taken the technology of probing further into the world," says Woollard. "In the process, we are market leaders in land probing and global leaders in offshore. In fact, when it comes to land probing, there are many local markets; the way ground investigation is determined by each country's history and preferences. In offshore, on the other hand, a global player field applies. We are leaders in technology and have many patents to our name."

Digitization

As early as fifteen years ago, A.P. van den Berg foresaw a strong digitization of the market. "Since then, there has been a strong focus on the digitization of data transmission. This makes our equipment more stable, more reliable and provides greater bandwidth. We have absolutely reaped the benefits of that in recent years," Woollard concludes. "Currently, we are even on the eve of the second generation of our digital sounding system, while our competition is still in the process of bringing a first generation to market. With the second generation, we will continue to maintain our lead. Innovation is literally in our DNA."

From hand control to probing robot

The same is more or less true for the indentation system, the heart of the machine that pushes the probe string into the ground. "For the indentation system, we recently presented a further development, a machine that makes the probing environment change, with mechatronics playing an increasingly important role. The CPT master's workshop changes to an office environment on the vehicle. The "rolling in and out" of the CPT line is fully automated. Field Measurement and Laboratory Group (VLG), part of the Engineering Office of the Municipality of Rotterdam, has already put the first one into operation; we are currently building a second CPT robot for Van der Straaten Geotechniek."

Techniques continue to evolve

A. P. van den Berg also closely follows developments in propulsion technology. Woollard: "In cooperation with a truck manufacturer, we are building a CPT vehicle on hybrid technology for BAM Infra. Once on site, the Track-Truck can move around the field completely electrically on its tracks. CPTs can also be carried out emission-free. And so we are constantly continuing to develop our techniques. Since January 23, 2020, our calibration laboratory has also been ISO 17025 accredited. This puts us in a unique position worldwide as a supplier of measuring instruments for probing. We provide reliable and accurate equipment supported by a validated calibration process."