Big Stan (drill rig)

Big Stan is a vehicle-mounted drill rig built in 1986 by Anderson Drilling. The rig has been used on a number of construction projects in which conventional, smaller drilling rigs were unable to be used, particularly when projects call for drilling into hard soil. Notably, Big Stan was used in the construction of the First National Bank Tower in Omaha, the Benicia-Martinez bridge near San Francisco, and on expansions to the I-15/215 Beltway in Las Vegas. The drill rig was featured on Discovery Channel's show “Monster Machines” in 2007.

Big Stan features a two-piece design, significantly lowering the time and manpower needed to assemble it compared to contemporary rigs. Big Stan employs a screw conveyor capable of exerting 534,000 pound-feet (724,000 N⋅m) of torque and 75,000 pounds (34,000 kg) of downward force to a maximum depth of 260 feet (79 m). Its drill bit is capable of moving 5 cubic yards (3.8 m³) of soil per rotation and its drill bucket is able to move up to 8 cubic yards (6.1 m³) of soil per rotation. The rig has been estimated as one of, if not the largest, vehicle-mounted drilling rigs in the world.