Since then, the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory team has taken this technology through a successful field demonstration at the U.S. Department of Energy's Mound Site in Ohio. As a result of the demonstration, the team is adapting the technology for greater flexibility in the field. Dig-face characterization may very well revolutionize hazardous waste retrieval from landfills and other excavation sites.
Sensors relay data to a control station through radio frequency links.
Data are analyzed on site to allow site managers to adjust excavation plans and inform workers of hazards that will be encountered in each successive layer of soil removed. Dig-face characterization holds some crucial advantages over current sampling and monitoring methods. Remote operation avoids sending personnel into contaminated pits either to collect samples or to operate handheld sensors. The mechanical nature of the apparatus provides more thorough data collection, greater accuracy, and immediate results. During the August 1995 Mound demonstration, the dig-face sensors were mounted on a trolley, which limited the scanned area to about 20 by 30 feet by 5 feet deep.