Sol Solution was created in 1992 by Roland Gourvès, to distribute PANDA®.
Our DNA is created: Innovation.
Inventing is one thing… Convincing the profession is another!
How did it start? A story about a picket
Since the 1990s, Sol Solution has been designing, developing and marketing innovative geotechnical equipment and methods. Its first invention is the Panda®, a dynamic cone penetrometer with variable energy for controlling the quality of compaction of earthworks and carrying out tests for the geotechnical characterisation of surface soils.
Legend has it that the inventor came up with the idea of using the energy released by hitting a sledgehammer on a rod to measure the resistance of the ground and to collect data from the ground, when he stuck a sardine in the ground to fix his tent.
Its success was not immediate, and it was necessary to convince people of the advantages of this new technique, suitcase in hand. Lighter, more manageable, easier to use and transport, the Panda® was a break with the heavy equipment on the market. Thanks to its advantages and supported by the standardisation of compaction control with the dynamic cone penetrometer with variable energy, the Panda became widely available. It should be noted that the Panda® had another significant advantage that contributed to its success. It was delivered with a laptop computer and a printer that allowed the results of the soundings to be published directly on the site. Revolutionary at the time!
1997
We opened two service activities, geotechnics and network control. Two services based on our historical product, Panda®. In 1992, the inspection of backfill became mandatory. The Panda® allows us to carry out one of the acceptance tests carried out after the creation of sewerage networks: the compaction test of the backfill. Our vocation was born: we are manufacturer-users.
1999
We moved to Riom, the land of Riom Limagne et Volcans. We are and remain firmly rooted in our region.
2007
We started the first projects to characterise the soil by analysing images acquired in the hole made by the Panda® test thanks to an endoscopic camera, without taking any samples. These sites follow 2 theses financed by Sol Solution as part of the Cifre scheme with Polytech Clermont and a co-development with the SNCF. We then began to work for the SNCF to characterize the base layers of railway platforms.
2010
We are expanding our range of penetrometers, designed for soil investigation and/or compaction control. The ursid family is growing with the arrival of the Pandito®, designed for self-control of backfill layer by layer and the arrival of its big brother, the Grizzly®.
Why Pandito®?
For those of you who know some Hispanic language, you will quickly find the diminutive “-ito”, which means something smaller. The name comes from our teams, which at the time included several South Americans, including Miguel, who is now our Head of Research, Development and Innovation. The Pandito is a small Panda®, without electronics
2015
We have our 1ère international engineering mission experience in Singapore!
2016
We participated in the Parasol project and demonstrated, within the consortium with Michelin and Limagrain, our ability to understand the mechanical behaviour of the soil outside civil engineering, by analysing the signals from sensors integrated into tractor wheels.
2017
The founder retires from the Presidency and hands over the company to his management committee. We remain firmly committed to our financial and scientific independence.
2018
We became the leader of a project within the framework of the Single Inter-Ministerial Fund (FUI) to work on a new generation of penetrometers that will make it possible to obtain the following soil mechanical data in one measurement: modulus of elasticity, pseudo-static cone resistance, compressional wave velocity and soil damping, in addition to the cone resistance. The consortium includes the Navier laboratory of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts de Chaussées, the Gustave Eiffel University (ex-IFSTTAR), Fondasol and CIO SE and is financed by Bpifrance, the FEDER auvergne and the Auvergne Rhône Alpes region. The expected results have been achieved: the consortium has finalised a prototype of this new machine, developed a method for assessing the risk of soil liquefaction, a seismic classification of soils, and developed a method for soil investigation with a view to dimensioning foundations.
2019
The e-Kodiak® will expand our family of penetrometers. 1er penetrometer whose measurements can be directly linked to the user software via our mobile application
2020
We became a software publisher, with the development of Websprint©, a unique geotechnical cloud application that allows collaborative work on projects, efficient by following a workflow on the ways of apprehending the measurements made on site, and not only with our materials!
