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Concept
Kola Superdeep Borehole
Summary
The Kola Superdeep Borehole (Кольская сверхглубокая скважина) SG-3
is the result of a scientific drilling project of the Soviet Union in the Pechengsky District, near the Russian border with Norway, on the Kola Peninsula. The project attempted to drill as deep as possible into the Earth's crust.
Drilling began on 24 May 1970 using the Uralmash-4E, and later the Uralmash-15000 series drilling rig, and it became the deepest manmade hole in history in 1979. The diameter boreholes were drilled by branching from a central hole. The deepest reached in 1989, the deepest human-made hole on Earth, and remains so .
In terms of true vertical depth, it remains the deepest borehole in the world. For two decades, it was also the world's longest borehole in terms of measured depth along the well bore (that is, borehole length) until it was surpassed in 2008 by the long Al Shaheen Oil Well in Qatar.
Drilling began on 24 May 1970 using the Uralmash-4E, a serial drilling rig used for drilling oil wells. The rig was slightly modified to be able to reach a depth. In 1974, the new purpose-built Uralmash-15000 drilling rig was installed onsite, named after the new target depth, set at .
On 6 June 1979, the world depth record held by the Bertha Rogers hole in Washita County, Oklahoma, United States, at , was broken. In October 1982, the first hole reached , and the second hole was started in January 1983 from a depth of the first hole.
In 1983, the drill passed in the second hole, and drilling was stopped for about a year for numerous scientific and celebratory visits to the site.
This idle period may have contributed to a breakdown after drilling resumed; on 27 September 1984, after drilling to , a section of the drill string twisted off and was left in the hole. Drilling was restarted in September 1986, from the first hole.
The third hole reached in 1989. In that year, the hole depth was expected to reach by the end of 1990 and by 1993.
In June 1990, a breakdown occurred in the third hole at of depth.
Official source
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