This webpage aims to give an overview of drill rigs in construction setting. The focus will be on the various types of drill rig to use in different site conditions and deep foundations, rather than on the individual parts and component of a drill rig. Drill rigs are equipment that are used to penetrate the earth crust. Rotary drill rigs are the most common type of drill rigs nowadays, and it can be classified into two classes: land rigs and marine rigs. Marine drill rigs are typically used to drill oil wells in the ocean. Land drill rigs, on the other hand, are used to install deep foundations such as drilled shafts, auger cast piles or helical piles. Drill rigs are used to drill wells as well. These are all examples of rigs that utilize vertical drilling. There is also horizontal boring, which is usually used to install conduits like water ducts and pipes, or in a bigger scale, used to dig tunnels. The general timeline of the history and development of drill rigs can be found in ‘History’ tab.

Land rigs are typically used for construction, as it is more portable compared to its counterpart. Various components of the drill rig, including the derrick, are skid-mounted, meaning it can be moved around and attached to other machines easily. This results in the track-mounted or truck-mounted drill rigs variants. A land rig  can be considered as a telescoped portable mast that usually comes with a hoisting machinery, which is similar to a crane but with smaller lifting capability, its own diesel engines that does not depend on the vehicle it is mounted on, and a derrick. The derrick usually comes in different sizes as well; when it is lower than 20 ft it is classified as low headroom, and when it is taller than 20 ft it is considered as regular. More details and discussions about these variations can be found through ‘Variation of drill rigs’ tab.  

Different types of soil condition will also call for different types of drilling method, although the drill rig may stay the same. Soil conditions may vary in different depths of the same location, so we can sometimes have loamy soil (this requires slurry drilling)  at a range of 0-10 ft, shale rocks (softer rocks) or limestone (harder rocks that requires rock drilling) from 10 ft onwards, and a high water table at 5 ft. These different varieties and combination of soil components is what makes drilling a specialized field/trade in construction. A crash course on drilling can be found in the ‘Drilling method’ tab.

Besides that, there are also a couple more types of drilling rigs that are used to accommodate different types of deep foundations, such as auger cast piles and helical piles. Auger cast piles are essentially the same as regular drilled shafts, except they are more suitable for softer soils. Helical piles on the other hand, are similar to steel-only variation of the deep foundations. Helical piles are typically better suited for projects inside an existing building where a foundation is needed to support a new equipment that is very heavy and requires a base. More details information about the auger cast piles drill rigs and helical piles drill rigs can be found in the ‘Auger Cast/Helical Piles Rigs’ tab.

Lastly, a brief introduction on the revolutionary drill rigs that make directional drilling possible will be available on the ‘Directional Drill Rigs’ tab found above in the page. In that page, a further exploration of what directional drilling is and the differences between a regular drill rig and the rig used for directional drilling will be included.