Company Overview L.J. Hughes & Sons, Inc. is the largest diamond drilling contractor on the U.S. East Coast. We have been privately held and family-owned for over four generations. Since 1946, the company has drilled 16,182,172 feet. Diamond Drilling is used in coal and mineral exploration to obtain core samples of the geological strata. Geotechnical Drilling is used to obtain soil and core samples used in the design of structures including buildings, dams, roads, and bridges. Environmental Drilling is used to set monitoring wells to obtain ground water samples, often in contaminated areas. Pressure Grouting is used to pump grout slurries under high pressure into subsurface cracks and fissures to form impermeable barricades to seal off water when constructing mine shafts and slopes as we