Earth Drillers

Key Responsibilities

• Monitor drilling operations, by checking gauges and listening to equipment to assess drilling conditions and to determine the need to adjust drilling or alter equipment.
• Document geological formations encountered during work.
• Drill or bore holes in rock for blasting, grouting, anchoring, or building foundations.
• Regulate air pressure, rotary speed, and downward pressure, according to the type of rock or concrete being drilled.
• Inspect core samples to determine nature of strata, or take samples to laboratories for analysis.
• Operate water-well drilling rigs and other equipment to drill, bore, and dig for water wells or for environmental assessment purposes.
• Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns.
• Perform pumping tests to assess well performance.
• Pour water into wells, or pump water or slush into wells to cool drill bits and to remove drillings.
• Operate controls to stabilize machines and to position and align drills.
• Disinfect, reconstruct, and redevelop contaminated wells and water pumping systems, and clean and disinfect new wells in preparation for use.
• Retract augers to force discharge dirt from holes.
• Place and install screens, casings, pumps, and other well fixtures to develop wells.
• Select the appropriate drill for the job, using knowledge of rock or soil conditions.
• Perform routine maintenance and upgrade work on machines and equipment, such as replacing parts, building up drill bits, and lubricating machinery.
• Select and attach drill bits and drill rods, adding more rods as hole depths increase, and changing drill bits as needed.
• Drive trucks, tractors, or truck-mounted drills to and from work sites.
• Drive or guide truck-mounted equipment into position, level and stabilize rigs, and extend telescoping derricks.
• Design well pumping systems.
• Start, stop, and control drilling speed of machines and insertion of casings into holes.
• Review client requirements and proposed locations for drilling operations to determine feasibility, and to determine cost estimates.
• Signal crane operators to move equipment.
• Verify depths and alignments of boring positions.
• Assemble and position machines, augers, casing pipes, and other equipment, using hand and power tools.
• Fabricate well casings.
• Retrieve lost equipment from bore holes, using retrieval tools and equipment.
• Withdraw drill rods from holes, and extract core samples.
• Operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes.
• Record drilling progress and geological data.