2. Drilling

2.1 General definition and objectives

Drilling is the making of a hole in the ground using a mechanical tool. Drilling also means the "work" produced by drilling, i.e. the hole in the ground. Drilling has many applications:

• the search for and exploitation of useful materials such as oil, natural gas and water;

• soil reconnaissance for geological, geotechnical and hydrogeological studies;

• soil preparation for civil engineering works (bored piles, injection);

• and finally, a more recent application, "environmental" soil recognition, the aim of which is to assess the impact on soil of human activity (industrial site, landfill, etc.)....