Creating a Well Construction Log

A well construction log is a visual representation of the well. It replicates a well construction diagram and is generally used in the environmental industry. The well construction log shows how the monitoring well or piezometer was created and displays items such as screen, packing material, end caps, and covers. The data for each part of the well are listed in the data table with specific information.

To begin, you need to have a clear idea of how you want the well diagram to look like, and what parts of the well need to be included. In this example we will walk through creating a well construction log that looks like the example to the right.

The first step is determining what items need to be included in the well construction log. You can determine this by looking at an existing diagram (one that is hand drawn, included in another report, or drawn by another program such as a CAD program) or by envisioning the diagram and noting the components you will need. We will use the well construction image above as a template. You can see in the image that there are 8 items that need to be included: concrete, bentonite, sand, gravel, filter sand, cap ,casing, and screen.

Understanding the Data Parts

The next step is creating a data table from which the well construction log will be drawn. Data for each of the well items need to be included in the data table. Well construction logs in Strater can be created from two table types: a Well Construction table or an Interval table. The columns of data that need to be present in the data table are: Hole ID, From, To, Outer Diameter, Inner Diameter, Offset, and Item. Before we create the data table, let’s go over what these columns mean:

This article will walk through how to create a

well construction log as shown above.

The Hole ID column tells Strater which well the data refers to. In the data table, you can enter the well construction items for multiple holes. You can select which Hole ID to display in the log properties.
The From and To columns specifies the vertical depth interval to display the item.

The item filled with the diagonal cross

hatch has data From = 25 and To = 40.

The Outer Diameter and Inner Diameter columns tell Strater the width of the item. If you can imagine a line running down the center of the diagram, this is the “0” line. You can tell Strater how thick to draw the item on both sides of this 0 line. When you specify an inner or outer diameter, half that diameter will be on one side of the 0 line, and the other half of the diameter will be on the other side of the 0 line. So, if you enter a diameter of 4, Strater will display the item from 2 units to the left to 2 units to the right of the center line. You can specify a solid item centered in the log (i.e. a pipe or casing in the center of the diagram, Inner Diameter = 0 and Outer Diameter is however thick you want it), or you can start the item some distance from the center 0 line so that it has a hole in the center (i.e. sand or filters, Inner Diameter is some number greater than 0, and Outer Diameter is a number greater than that).

The center solid white item has an Inner Diameter = 0

and an Outer Diameter = 4. This creates a solid item

in the center of the log. The item filled with the diagonal

cross hatch has an Inner Diameter = 4 and an Outer

Diameter = 10. This draws the item on either side of

the center line with the center portion cut out.

The Offset value specifies any horizontal offset for a particular item. It shifts the center line for that item from 0 to whatever value is entered. A positive Offset value shifts the item to the right. A negative Offset value shifts the item to the left. The example we are working with does not have an offset to any of the items. If you do not have an offset, you still need to enter 0 for this column. If you do not enter an Offset value, then the well construction log is not drawn.

A positive value of 2 is entered for the Offset of

the item filled with the diagonal cross hatch pattern.

The Item gives Strater a keyword for that particular log item. This could be a simple name of what the item is, such as “sand”, “gravel” or “end cap”. This item keyword is used in the well construction scheme to apply fill and line properties to that item when the well construction log is drawn.

Creating the Data

To create a well construction table:

Click the Home | New | Table command, click the button, or press CTRL+W on the keyboard to create a new table.
In the Create New Table dialog, enter a Table Name such as Well Construction, set the Base Table Type to Well Construction Table, and click Create. The new table is displayed.
In the Hole ID column (Column A), type a hole ID such as Sample for the first 8 rows since there are 8 items in the well construction diagram.
Strater will draw the items on the well construction log in the order they are listed in the data table, from top down. The items at the bottom of the list are drawn last and on top of all the previous items. Entering the Item data next makes it easy to organize the items in the right order before filling in all the other data. We want to list the background items first so they are not drawn on top of all the other items and cover them up. Looking at the image at the top of this page as a guide, you can see that the concrete, bentonite, sand, gravel and filter sand are all in the “background”, and the cap, casing and screen are drawn “on top”. That means, I’m going to make sure the cap, casing, and screen items are entered last in my data table. In the Item column (Column G), put the fill names in this order: Row 1 = concrete, Row 2 = bentonite, Row 3 = sand, Row 4 = gravel, Row 5 = filter sand, Row 6 = cap, Row 7 = casing, and Row 8 = screen.

Enter data in the From and To columns (columns B and C) for each item. Using the depth values displayed on the image at the top of this article as a guide, enter: Row 1 = 3 to 5, Row 2 = 5 to 25, Row 3 = 25 to 40, Row 4 = 40 to 60, Row 5 = 40 to 60, Row 6 = 0 to 5, Row 7 = 5 to 42, and Row 8 = 42 to 60.
Since the items are not offset in this diagram, enter 0 for all rows in the Offset column (Column F).
To determine the diameter for each item, we need to define a maximum “width” for the log. This can be any number, as long as all the items in the well are proportional. Since the concrete is the widest item, we can choose an arbitrary number for it, such as 15. The Outer Diameter is entered in Column D. The Inner Diameter is entered in Column E.
1. Row 1 = The concrete Outer Diameter = 15. The Inner Diameter for the concrete will be the same as the Outer Diameter for the cap. Again, this is an arbitrary value, such as 4. Enter 4 as the Inner Diameter.
2. Row 6 and 7 = The cap and casing have the same width, and they are solid and centered. So the Inner Diameter = 0, and the Outer Diameter = 4.
3. Row 2 and 3 = The bentonite and sand have the same width. They are on the outside of the casing, so the Inner Diameter for these items is going to be the same as the Outer Diameter of the casing. Enter 4 for the inner Diameter. Since they are not quite as wide as the concrete, the Outer Diameter needs to be less than 15. Enter 10 as the Outer Diameter.
4. Row 5 = The filter sand has the same Outer Diameter as the sand and bentonite, so enter 10. But it is about half as wide as those items, so enter an Inner Diameter of 7.5 for this item.
5. Row 4 = The gravel has the Outer Diameter value as the filter sand’s Inner Diameter. Enter 7.5 for the Outer Diameter. The Inner Diameter is the same as the Outer Diameter for the casing. Enter 4 for the Inner Diameter.
6. Row 8 = The screen is centered in the middle, so the Inner Diameter is 0. The Outer Diameter is slightly wider than the casing and cap. Since the casing and cap have an Outer Diameter of 4, enter 5 for the Outer Diameter.
Click File | Save to save the project now that the data is created. In the Save As dialog, type a name for the project, such as Well Construction.

Enter values for the outer and inner edges of each item in the Outer Diameter and Inner Diameter data columns.

Enter the data for each well item into the data table.

Creating the Log

Now that the data has been created, the well construction log can be created.

Click on Borehole 1 tab at the top of the project window.
Click the Log | Create Log | Well Construction command or click the button.
Click in the log pane where you want the log to be placed.
In the Open dialog, make sure the Well Construction table is selected in the Use Current Table and in the File name boxes.
Click Open and the log is created using the existing data table and the default settings.
The default settings do not necessarily fit all cases. In this case, the well size we created should be 15. The default value is 10, so we need to change this. Click on the well construction log, if it is not already selected.
In the Property Manager, change the Well Size to 15. Now the entire log is displayed.

Set the Well Size to include the maximum Outer Diameter entered in the data table to fully see all items.

Creating the Well Construction Scheme

The well construction log is created, but the log items are not filled with any color or patterns. The line and fill properties are controlled by the well construction scheme. This scheme was automatically created when we created the log, so all you have to do is specify in the scheme which fill and line properties you want for each item. To edit the line and fill properties in the scheme:

Click the Home | Display | Scheme Editor command or click the button.
In the Scheme Editor, click the next to Well Construction, if it is not already expanded.
Click the next to Well Construction: Well Construction scheme name to see all of the items in the scheme.
When you select one of the items, the properties for that item will be displayed on the right side of the dialog. For example, select concrete on the left side and on the right side, change the Foreground color in the Fill Properties section to 70% Black.
Set the line and fill patterns for all of the items. When all properties are set, click OK and the log is updated with the new line and fill settings.

Finalizing the Log

The well construction log is created and custom color and patterns are applied. You can now add other logs or customize your log design in other ways. In this example, we will add a depth log and a legend.

Click the Log | Create Log | Depth command.
Click in the log pane where you want the log to be placed.
You can make adjustments to the depth log properties in the Property Manager. For example, you can:
1. Change the starting and ending depths for the ticks and the tick interval on the Ticks tab.
2. Decrease the number of decimal digits shown and increase the font size on the Label tab.
You can also create a legend of the scheme items to help clarify the log. Click the Log | Add | Legend command.
Click anywhere in the borehole view where you want the legend to be placed. You can place it in the header, footer or log panes.
You can make adjustments to the legend in the Property Manager. For example, you can:
1. Change the number of columns used to display the legend items on the Legend tab.
2. Change the legend title on the Label tab.

Other well construction log examples exist in the Samples directory.