DRAGIN Drilling, a full-service company that provides environmental, geotechnical construction, landfill and water supply drilling services, has added a custom-designed, high-torque drill rig to its fleet.

The new unit was designed for DRAGIN Drilling and is, claims the company, the only one-of- its-kind in the United States. The rig itself is a modified CME-95; a drill rig manufactured by the St. Louis-based Central Mine Equipment Company. This unit was designed to tackle deep and large diameter auger drilling projects. The primary modification made to the CME-95 was to increase the rotary torque and retract force approximately 30 percent. Applications include deep auger drilling — up to depths of 350 ft. (106 m) using 4.25-in. (10 cm) hollow-stem augers — for the delineation of deep contaminate plumes and investigation of new water supplies. This feature has been of particular importance for the ongoing remediation work at the Massachusetts military Reservation on Cape Cod.

The second modification of importance was the re-designing of the upright frame. The new design allows for the use of a 24-in. (61 cm) O.D. hollow-stern auger. Applications for this feature and specialty equipment include landfill gas vent well and large diameter recovery well installations. DRAGIN Drilling continues to be the sole provider of this 24-in. (61 cm) auger drilling service.

Carrie Collins, president of DRAGIN Drilling, said that the drill rig is used primarily for the drilling and installation of deep environmental monitoring wells and landfill gas vent wells. “The nature and types of drilling projects that we undertake require extra power, and this unit offers exactly that,” she said. “We’ve been able to use this truck-mounted unit to reach depths of 100 ft. at a local landfill without complications due to leachate or wall sloughing, something a conventional bucket rig has difficulties accomplishing even with up to 40 percent more time on the job.

“What makes our services unique is that other auger rigs, even other Central Mine Equipment rigs, are not built to accept this size auger. Other attempts at using a 24-in. auger with conventional drills has proven to be a safety hazard as well as extremely inefficient. But, it is something we have perfected,” she said.

DRAGIN Drilling is a SOMWBA-Certified, Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) and Disadvantage Business Enterprise (DBE) drilling company. The company’s name was originally created as an acronym to describe its scope of services, “Deep Remedial and Groundwater Investigation Needs.”

A custom-designed fleet accommodates virtually every drilling need. Unique capabilities include auger drilling to depths of up to 350 ft. (106 m); screened auger sampling; collection of both discrete water and soil samples from a single borehole; 24-inch landfill auger drilling, all-terrain drilling; angle drilling, and more.

The company’s services have been used by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the Massachusetts Highway Department, the Massachusetts Military Reservation, the South Weymouth Naval Air Station, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the City of Boston’s Central Artery, and others.

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