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NexTerra Subterranean, Inc. - Formerly, Navarro & Wright Drilling is a leader among geotechnical drilling firms in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Our drilling services staff bring over 30 years of knowledge and experience in all aspects of drilling and geotechnical services.  We offer drilling services for all phases of geotechnical site investigations. We are a Pennsylvania based MBE/ DBE company with licensure in Delaware (DBE), Maryland (MBE,DBE), New York (DBE), New Jersey (DBE), Virginia, West Virginia.

  Paul W. Navarro is Owner and President of NexTerra Subterranean Inc. With a rich and diverse background in Business, geotechnical drilling and medicine, Mr. Navarro brings a wealth of experience to the company. As the former Executive Vice President of Drilling for Navarro & Wright Consulting Engineers, he successfully managed a $ 6 million drilling division and played a pivotal role on the Board of Directors.

Our Director of Drilling Operations, Larry McCoy has over 17 years of drilling experience with a variety of drilling platforms including conventional and limited access track, truck mounted, ATV mounted and barge drilling. Mr. McCoy is also an experienced backhoe and bulldozer operator. Mr. McCoy was previously the Director of Drilling Field Operations for Navarro and Wright Consulting Engineers. 

 Kurt Bassett is a Field Supervisor and Director of Education and Safety. Mr. Bassett is a Master Driller with over 15 years of experience and is licensed to drill in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and West Virginia. Mr. Bassett has extensive experience as a Project Manager and Director of Drilling Operations 

Our combined expertise in drilling and geotechnical capabilities propels us ahead when comprehensive drilling services are needed. Because we forged strong alliances with top geotechnical engineering firms in the Northeastern United States, these invaluable business partnerships empower us to work as a cohesive team with engineers, geologists, inspectors and lab technicians to provide you with the most efficient, cost-effective approach to transform your ideas into tangible realities. 

We firmly believe in the significance of meticulous planning and thorough preparation for every project. Hence, we employ cutting-edge drilling management software to ensure that all team members are well-informed about the often ever changing aspects of every project. This real-time access to information empowers our drilling staff and our clients and guarantees the success of every project we work on. 

S.R. 0081, Section 511, Susquehanna County, PennDOT District 4-0

Completed this phase of drilling as part of the Pathways Major Bridge P3 Initiative. This project included drilling cut slope and ITS and CCTV sign structure borings. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

S.R. 0080, Section 352, Susquehanna County, PennDOT District 4-0. 

Completed this phase of drilling as part of the Pathways Major Bridge P3 Initiative. This project included drilling bridge, retaining walls and ITS structure borings. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

S.R. 0081, Section 316, Luzerne County, PennDOT District 4-0. 

This project involves the reconstruction of Interstate 81 from Mile Marker 161.2 to 169 and included borings for roadway cuts, embankments, sound barriers pavement design and structure design. More than 17,000 feet of drilling was completed including borehole infiltration and borings drilled under a HASP. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.
   
  

Open-End Drilling Contract – East 22, Various Locations, PA, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC). 

This project involves providing geotechnical drilling support for PTC design project along the Mainline from M.P. 247.3 through the Delaware River Bridge. To date, seventeen (17) work orders totaling more than $900,000 have been completed. The work orders completed have involved both day-time and night-time drilling, pavement cores and maintenance and protection of traffic. Providing project administration of the drilling tasks.

Open-End Drilling Contract – East 24N, Various Locations, PA, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC). 

This project involves providing geotechnical drilling support for PTC design project along the Mainline from M.P. 247.3 through the Delaware River Bridge. To date, six (6) work orders totaling more than $150,000 have been completed. The work orders completed have involved both day-time and night-time drilling, pavement cores and maintenance and protection of traffic. Providing project administration of the drilling tasks.

SEPTA KOP Rail Extension, Phase 2 Geotechnical Investigation, Upper Merion Township, PA. 

This project included drilling more than 230 borings totaling nearly 11,000 feet. The average depth of the borings is approximately 85 feet but some were drilled more than 200 feet below the ground surface. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

Geotechnical and Drilling Open End, Various Locations, PennDOT District 9-0.

Test boring drilling has been completed for 12 work orders to date. Test borings were drilled for slide corrections and structure replacements. Providing project administration of the drilling tasks.

Amtrak – Line 11 Transmission Line, Dauphin and Lancaster Counties, PA, Amtrak. 

The project consists of replacement of the transmission line from Conestoga to Royalton along an active Norfolk Southern railroad line. Nearly 250 borings totaling more than 11,000 feet of drilling were completed. Drilling included hi-rail borings drilled from the track. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

Hadley Place Development, Cumberland County, TSI, Inc. Drilling performed to support the investigation of property for private development. Project included twelve (12) borings totaling 120.3 feet for this project. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

Maplewood Development, Dauphin County, TSI, Inc. Drilling performed to support the investigation of property for private development. Project included thirteen (13) borings totaling 124.6 feet for this project. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

Funk’s Farm Development, Lancaster County, TSI, Inc. Drilling performed to support the investigation of property for private development. Project included eleven (11) borings totaling 156.6 feet for this project. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

McConnel Lake Dam, Pike County, Hemlock Farms Community Association. 

This project involves the rehabilitation of this 16-foot-high recreational dam. Completed 5 borings totaling 282.9 feet with a track rig and a tripod assembly. Also installed standpipe piezometers. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

S.R. 3022, Section 005, Dauphin County, PennDOT District 8-0. 

This project involves the replacement of the Maclay Street Bridge that carries S.R. 0322 over the Norfolk Southern Railway Company Yard. The project included thirty-one (31) borings totaling just over 1,000 feet of drilling. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

S.R. 0443, Section 02B, Schuylkill County, PennDOT District 5-0. 

This project involves the replacement of the bridge that carries S.R. 0443 over Mill Creek. The project included five (5) borings totaling 136.5 feet of drilling. Provided project administration of the drilling tasks.

 S.R. 0422, Section M1B ROADWAY, PLEASANTVIEW AND PARK BRIDGES

N&W provided the winning bid for this PennDOT Engineering District 6, S.R. 0422, Section M1B Roadway, Pleasantview and Park Bridges, design project in June of 2017. This was our first successful bid in this District. The project included forty‐six (46) roadway and structure borings, twenty (20) test pits and three (3) pavement cores. The total drilling footage was 973 feet and consisted of 428.9 feet of continuous SPT sampling, 20.8 feet of unsampled footage and 523.3 feet of rock coring. Most of the borings required maintenance and protection of traffic (MPT) to provide safety for the drill crew and drilling was restricted to non‐peak hours since the ADT for SR 0422 in this area is over 45,000 vehicles per day. N&W self‐performed the MPT with no incidents or traffic back‐ups. N&W mobilized our track‐mounted Acker Scout rig
to the borings located on some steep slopes and our truck‐mounted Acker AD‐II rig to drill the remaining borings. The test pits were performed at the same time as the borings to reduce the duration of the MPT impacts to the travelling public.

N&W completed the drilling and grouting for this project in 21 days – including 24‐hour groundwater readings at all the borings. The subsurface materials encountered in the borings varied from sandy gravel to sandy silt along with cobbles and boulders. The sedimentary bedrock encountered was mainly siltstone with a minimal amount of sandstone interbedding.

Navarro & Wright Consulting Engineers, Inc. (N&W) utilized their in-house drilling capabilities to help get this project back on schedule. This is a structure replacement project where the recommended structure is a single 88 foot span, composite prestressed concrete spread box beam bridge.

The drilling included four (4) structure borings that extended a minimum of 10 feet into shale bedrock. The borings were completed using a combination of our Acker AD II truck-mounted drill rig and our Acker Soil Scout track-mounted drill rig. All of the borings were located in the travel lanes which required third party maintenance and protection of traffic.

Other project considerations were the need for long-term groundwater readings which required temporary caps over the open borings, reduced work days to minimize traffic impacts and the full depth grouting of the borings to insure adequate safety for the traveling public. N&W’s Geotechnical Group is successfully collaborating with the Township and their Prime Consultant, Herbert, Rowland & Grubic. Inc., to achieve the scheduled project design completion.

As part of our Open End Agreement, E02802, with Gannett Fleming (GF), Navarro & Wright Consulting Engineers, Inc. (N&W) utilized our in-house drilling capabilities to help PennDOT District 9-0 investigate this active slide area.  The work was accelerated to avoid severe inclement weather predicted for the later part of the work week.  The work was facilitated by PennDOT D9-0 forces who provided MPT services for the roadway borings.

The project included eight (8) original borings and two (2) supplemental borings.  The supplemental borings were added at the request of the D9-0 Assistant District Geotechnical Engineer (ADGE) to provide increased insight into the cause of the active slide.  We mobilized our truck-mounted rig to efficiently complete borings located within the roadway footprint at the crest of the slide and our track-mounted rig to perform the borings located within the slope of the slide.  Mobilizing to the slope borings was more difficult because no access roads could be graded into the slope due to the risk of triggering a more damaging landslide.

Three hundred and six (306) feet of borings were drilled and grouted in just three (3) days.  Our drill crew received high marks from the PennDOT’s ADGE for their quick fulfillment of the originally scoped borings and willingness to complete additional borings within a short timeframe.  The soils encountered in the borings was mostly fill in the roadway borings and lean clay in the slope borings.  An undisturbed Shelby tube sample was obtained with in the clay soils for future laboratory testing.  The bedrock encountered was highly variable with much inter-bedding of the predominantly siltstone and sandstone.  Thin layers of claystone were also noted in some of the borings which may represent a potential failure plane.  One boring was not grouted to allow for more long-term groundwater measurements.