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Excavating is required for wide-range construction projects and is a regular part of construction operations. Along with trenching, excavation is a major worksite hazard, causing an average of 54 fatalities per year according to OSHA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Excavation failures are extremely dangerous because they occur quickly and inhibit the ability of site workers and those nearby to escape to safety.

The risk associated with excavation jobs increases with the speed of an excavation collapse, especially if it’s an extensive one. The aftermath can be deadly as the falling earth can bury or crush any worker in its path, causing internal crush injuries or suffocation. Before starting with the main theme of this blog, let’s first understand what comes under excavation work.

What Is Excavation Work?

Excavation work is the removal of rock or soil from a site, using specialized tools, machinery, and sometimes explosives to form a hole or cavity. It can occur anywhere, such as on construction sites, business premises, and in public areas. Excavation services generally include potholing, open excavations, pit excavations, shafts and drives, and trenches and retaining walls.

Excavation Work Safety Hazards

Excavation Hazards

Some safety hazards are directly related to excavation operations, such as improper site survey before proceeding with the job or incorrect handling of materials during or after it. These include whether or not you have placed the excavated materials, plant, or other loads securely and safely.

Incorrectly surveying before beginning the excavation operation is another major safety hazard to look out for. You must determine how this project will influence its nearby structures and whether there are any previous ground disturbances you should know of before digging a hole.

Any external actions such as excavation, in this case, can cause ground instability leading to a possible inrush of water, other liquids, or hazardous substances present in the soil.

Falls & Falling Objects

One construction site hazard that is most commonly ignored is that any site worker can fall into the excavated area. Falling loads, such as excavation work equipment or excavated soil and dirt, can also fall into the dug-up area and bury those working below. OSHA requires excavation site materials to be stored a minimum of two feet away from the edge of the excavation site. Employers are recommended to prevent any work from being conducted beneath suspended or raised loads.

Hazardous Atmosphere

A safety hazard that must be considered on all excavation sites is oxygen depletion in trenched areas. Contamination of the trench atmosphere by toxic chemicals and gases can significantly drop oxygen levels in that area. Workers breathing in these fumes and gases are at risk of asphyxiation that can be fatal.

Without PPE or respirators, the fumes will be inhaled by workers more quickly due to heavy breathing in such strenuous work. To avoid such unfortunate situations, atmospheric testing should be performed during the site analysis survey for excavations exceeding four feet.

Cave-ins

One of the main risks of excavation work is ground collapses. An average of two site workers is killed each month due to cave-ins resulting from ground collapse, making it a serious safety threat for workers. Ground collapse can be quite extensive in many cases. They may occur quickly without any warning and do not give workers any time to escape. If any worker gets buried underground, he will likely die from asphyxiation due to crushing pressure before help arrives.

Mobile Equipment

Accidents involving construction machinery and vehicles, such as backhoe loaders or dump trucks, are a common hazard of excavation sites. The view of individuals operating any mobile equipment might get obstructed, making them unable to detect when nearing the perimeter of the excavated area. This can lead to both the mobile equipment operators and the vehicle falling into the dug-up hole.

Apart from the safety hazards mentioned above, there are many other threats to the site worker’s safety, especially in traditional excavation techniques such as using explosives. Flying debris on excavation sites can also hit workers and cause serious injuries and damage to the expensive equipment.

Why Choose Hydrovac Excavation?

Hydrovac excavation is a great method to ensure worker safety during any excavation operation. It is a non-mechanical procedure that requires less workforce, fewer machines and allows workers to stay above the ground. This is also a great way to ensure that workers are safe from any mishaps and accidents. Moreover, it poses little threat to the utilities underground, such as water and sewer lines. It also minimizes the chances of damage to existing structures in the soil.

About Us

At Ghost Hydrovac, we offer expert hydro-vac services, including hydro excavation, directional drilling, cleaning, washing, and more using specialized hydro-vac trucks in Alberta and BC. For more information about our services, contact us today.

Accidently hitting an underground utility during an excavation process can prove to be disastrous. Not only can it damage the underground utilities, causing delays in the project and costly repairs, but it may also lead to loss of lives and severe injuries to the workers. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to locate and expose these existing utility lines before commencing any type of excavation project. One way to do that is by utilizing a rather non-invasive technique called potholing.

Potholing And Its Techniques

Potholing, sometimes also referred to as daylighting, is a process of accurately locating and exposing underground utilities such as electric cables, gas and water pipelines, telecommunication lines, and fiber-optics.

Potholing can be carried out in various ways depending on the client’s project requirements, budget constraints, and the risk of intended work. However, the three primary methods of potholing include:

• Hand digging
• Backhoes
• Vacuum excavation that includes air and water excavation/hydrovac excavation

Out of these three, the technique that is the most accurate, non-destructive, safe, and cost-effective for digging potholes is hydrovac. This blog will discuss the reason behind this and the various other benefits of potholing with hydrovac.

Drawbacks Of Other Techniques

Each potholing technique has its own set of pros and cons. For example, hand digging or digging with manual tools such as a shovel may provide accurate results and is less costly, but it is highly time-consuming and labor-intensive. Similarly, although digging with a backhoe is much faster than the other techniques, it is imprecise. It can damage the underground utilities posing a greater risk of exposure and environmental damage.

Potholing with hand digging is suitable for applications where working space is limited, and workers have restricted access to the proposed working zone. In contrast, potholing with backhoes is ideal for applications where the probability of utility interference is low such as in housing projects. Backhoes are not suitable for applications where there are space limitations.

The Hydrovac Potholing Process

When potholing with hydrovac, contractors use a hydro-vacuum excavator truck. To dig up a series of test holes of about 6-12 inches deep, the contractors first use a high-pressure water stream to move ground content. The mud slurry formed, as a result, is then suctioned or vacuumed to a tank mounted on a truck.

Hydro vacuum excavation can safely dig through hard and compacted dirt, rocky soil, and clay. Unlike other traditional potholing methods, it does not cut a utility line that might be hidden below the surface.

Here are some other benefits of potholing with hydrovac:

Precision

Potholing with hydro vacuum excavation is a safe, efficient, and highly precise method of locating and exposing utility lines. Moreover, thanks to the high-pressure water and variety of nozzles being used in the process, contractors can accurately excavate holes of different shapes and depths without damaging any existing utilities.

Accessibility

Potholing with hydrovac allows direct and precise access to locations that are typically inaccessible with traditional potholing techniques. With this method, operators can extend the lengths of their water line and hose to get to places where a traditional potholing machine won’t go, making it the solution to get to hard-to-read areas such as places near or close to buildings or structures.

Low Levels Of Risk

Underground utilities can easily get damaged by traditional potholing techniques, costing contractors a lot of time and money. However, potholing with hydrovac lowers the risk of utility damage to a bare minimum, making the whole process fast, clean, and safe.

Moreover, since hydrovac potholing doesn’t require heavy machinery and intense labor, it makes the process for the workers and passersby a lot safer than other techniques.

About Ghost Hydrovac

At Ghost Hydrovac, we offer professional hydrovac excavation, directional drilling, utility installation, cleaning, washing, and other hydrovac-related services across Alberta and British Columbia. For more information about our services, visit our website, or contact us here today.

Before initiating any excavation project, it is necessary for the crew members to precisely pinpoint the location of existing utilities. Locating and exposing these utility lines is essential to ensure that no potential risk is involved during the construction process.

With so many underground electrical cables, gas pipelines, and other utilities, blindly digging up the ground with a shovel or a backhoe can prove to be disastrous. For example, one small mistake can lead to loss of lives, severe injuries, costly repairs, delays in the project’s timeline, and much more.

However, thanks to potholing technology, workers don’t have to go in blind anymore. They can now locate utilities using this simple yet effective technology. Read this blog to know more about utility potholing and what potholing techniques you can use to best tackle your excavation projects.

What Is Utility Potholing?

Utility potholing, sometimes also referred to as daylighting, is a process of digging up a series of small test holes to locate and expose existing utility lines as accurately and precisely as possible. It is primarily an investigative construction technique and is used to gain onsite confirmation of the location of various underground utilities and other structures that may be present in the proposed construction zone.

Potholing can tell workers a lot about utility lines, including:

• Their horizontal and vertical location
• Their depth
• Type of line
• Or, if there are any signs of damage to the lines

More and more people are now using potholing in their excavation processes. It helps decrease their chances of hitting water, electrical, gas, telecommunication, and fiber-optic lines. Preventing damage to these lines means a smoother project that stays within budget and on schedule.

Potholing is also an effective technique for applications requiring drilling holes, such as installing signage, placing telephone or utility polls, posting fences, and more. Contractors may also use it to repair and inspect existing lines.

Which Method Is Right For Your Project?

Contractors can carry out potholing in various ways depending on the client’s project requirements, budget, and the risks associated with the intended work. The three primary methods of potholing that are implemented in the construction industry today include:

• Hand Digging
• Backhoes
• Hydrovac Excavation

Hand Digging

This method of potholing uses shovels and digging bars to uncover and excavate underground utilities manually. Although this method is the least costly and is mostly accurate, it can be incredibly time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Hand digging is generally a safe method of potholing and is unlikely to rupture underground pipelines or cables. However, caution should be taken when digging near fiber options and electrical lines. This method is suitable for applications where working space is limited.

Backhoes

Digging with backhoes is a faster yet inefficient and imprecise potholing method. Excavating with a backhoe can lead to damage to underground utilities, and due to the lack of precision of this method, it is used in applications where the probability of utility interference is low such as in new housing development projects.

Due to the backhoes size and bulky nature, they are not suitable in applications where there is limited space.

Hydrovac Excavation

This potholing method is efficient, precise, cost-effective, and requires less labor than the other two techniques. In this method, a high-pressure stream of water is used to loosen up the soil. The mud slurry formed as a result is then vacuumed to a spoil tank mounting on a hydrovac truck. From here, the waste is taken away to a designated dump location.

Potholing with a hydrovac prevents damage to the utilities and provides a safer working environment. It can precisely locate and expose all kinds of underground utilities.

At Ghost Hydrovac, we provide professional potholing and directional drilling using the hydrovac technique. For more information about our services, visit our website, or contact us here today.

Hydrovac excavation is a non-invasive and non-destructive digging technology. In this excavation process, contractors use a specialized vehicle called a hydrovac truck or trailer to break up compacted soil. The vehicle has a hose that technicians insert into the ground at the excavation site. The hose injects high-pressure water into the ground, strong enough to liquefy the soil but not powerful enough to damage underground utilities.

The slurry formed as a result of this is then vacuumed into a tank on the truck. It is then taken away from the worksite to a specified dumping location.

This process of digging up the soil is safe, cost-effective, and favorable to the environment. However, it is important to keep in mind that while it has many advantages, it can result in a complete disaster if handled by the wrong person. For the process to be successful, it requires precision, accuracy, and expert technicians. Here is why you should only hire specialist hydrovac contractors to carry out digging processes at your construction site.

Experience And Training

Like in any other field, experience and training are necessary to ensure that the excavation is carried out successfully. Since the process involves high precision, accuracy, and knowledge of operating hydrovac trucks, a well-experienced hydrovac operator can make substantial differences in performing the truck’s applications. These differences can have a huge impact on the time and money spent on an excavation project.

Moreover, an experienced crew will know what to do when different work situations arise. Their expertise will allow them to guide their clients better and thus offer them the best value for their money.

Machinery And Tools

Excavation projects call for the use of heavy machinery and tools. An inexperienced crew may not understand what they need to do or how to operate certain machines. In contrast, professional and well-trained operators can safely and adequately handle the equipment. For example, here’s what they can do for you, day-in and day-out:

• An experienced hydrovac truck operator will know how to perform pre and post-trip truck inspections
• They will know how to appropriately use the truck to perform different hydrovac applications, such as daylighting, potholing, slot trenching, and more
• They will know the exact water pressure and temperature required to perform various applications
• In case something goes off with the machines, they’ll know and fix it instantly before it can damage the excavation site

Faster And Efficient Excavation

Although hydro excavation is generally faster than other conventional digging methods, it can still take longer than the expected timeline, especially if unprofessional contractors are dealing with it. To avoid any inefficiency, get an estimated completion time from your contractors and look at their previous work to ensure they can efficiently deliver on the commitment.

The type of equipment a company uses can tell us about their speed and efficiency. You can also check their reviews online to get an idea about the pace of a company’s project.

Safety

Security and safety are important factors to consider before hiring any contractor, especially in a construction setting. Expert hydrovac contractors will ensure that all their workers are safe from construction machines, products, and processes. Moreover, since this method of digging requires less labor and more precision, there is already a low risk of injury of the workers on site. An experienced contractor will minimize this risk even further.

Excavating Services That You Can Trust

Ghost Hydrovac offers professional and expert hydrovac services to its customers in Surrey, Edmonton, Vancouver, and surrounding areas. Contact us here to get in touch with us today.

Excavation is a critical aspect in many industries such as construction, mining, plumbing, landscaping, and more. Hydro excavation is a technologically advanced excavation method that cuts through the soil using a controlled stream of pressurized water to expose underground utilities. This excavation method is cost-effective and safe and ensures that no infrastructures are damaged during the process.

Hydrovac excavation offers many benefits and has a wide range of applications. One of its most popular applications includes hydrovac daylighting.

What Is Hydrovac Daylighting?

As the name indicates, hydrovac daylighting is a process that includes unearthing and exposing underground utilities and pipelines to the light of the day. Previously this unearthing of buried lines was done by hands using old tools, which was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and unsafe. On the other hand, hydrovac daylighting is a time-efficient, non-destructive, and safer way of digging than manual and air vacuum excavation methods.

Where Is Hydrovac Daylighting Used?

Daylighting is used in a wide range of excavation and cleaning services. Some of its applications include:

• Potholing, a process that uses vacuum excavation to locate underground utilities
• Trenching potholes
• Exposing buried pipelines and cables
• Culvert clean-outs
• Debris removal
• Tank cleaning
• Shoring installations

Benefits Of Hydrovac Daylighting

Traditional excavation methods of unearthing underground utilities came with a lot of drawbacks and risks. Depending upon the depth of the underground utility, exposing pipelines and cables with these methods would take up hours and sometimes days to complete the project. Moreover, hand digging often resulted in damaging the utilities and increasing the overall cost of the project.

In contrast, hydrovac daylighting is a safe, cost-effective, and fast process. It significantly enhances the projects’ efficiency, safety, productivity while decreasing unforeseen expenses and project cost. Some important benefits of hydrovac daylighting include:

Increased Efficiency

By employing hydrovac daylighting, you can ensure that your excavation project’s efficiency and productivity will increase significantly. It increases your project’s efficiency in the following ways:

1. A high-pressure stream of water coming from the hydrovac truck can efficiently break up the compacted soil. The slurry formed as a result is immediately air vacuumed into a tank and disposed of. This simultaneous digging and cleaning make it a time-efficient and productive process.
2. During this process, no underground utilities are damaged. This helps the contractors avoid any additional repair costs, which they usually have to pay for under other excavation methods.
3. Since it is a relatively advanced excavation method as compared to traditional digging methods, it involves trained professionals and quality equipment. These two factors make sure that your daylight excavation is done as efficiently as possible.

Increased Safety

Enhanced productivity of the process itself can increase safety levels on the job site. In addition to that, hydrovac daylighting follows stringent safety standards developed by safety experts. These safety standards meet those established by natural gas and oil producers and utility manufacturers.

Furthermore, trained and certified professionals possess a proven ability to work safely around various excavation sites and every kind of utility, including energized cables, gas pipelines, and more. Plus, the equipment they use is of high quality, which further adds to the overall safety of the process.

Powerful And Versatile

In hard-to-reach areas, hydrovac daylighting uses extra-long vacuum and water hoses, allowing workers to work over 600 feet away from the truck and excavate at depths of more than 40 feet. It can also work efficiently regardless of the soil condition or type. For example, you can use hydrovac daylighting on frozen surfaces, rocky soil, tough clay, and more.

Ghost Hydrovac

Ghost Hydrovac is an experienced hydrovac excavation company in Alberta and British Columbia. We offer a range of expert hydrovac services, including directional drilling, daylighting, utility installation, cleaning, washing, and more. For additional information, visit our website or contact us here today.

Hydrovac excavation trucks are the central pillar to this new excavation method. These trucks have pressure water jets that spray water on the site to make it soft. Moreover, these trucks can suck up soft soil, usually referred to as slur, through a vacuum.

Hydrovac excavation trucks make life easier for people working in several industries. These trucks prove to be useful for many industries, but there are some industries at the top.

Horizontal Directional Drilling Industry

The horizontal directional drilling industry deals with installing cables and pipes underground. This is one industry that uses hydrovac trucks the most. These trucks make it easier and efficient for you to dig up soil and install pipes.

The overall efficiency of the installation process is increased significantly due to these trucks. The hydrovac method allows excavation experts to complete their installations quickly.

Utility Location Services

When it comes to locating utilities underground and uncovering them, hydrovac trucks provide ultimate safety and perfection. In contrast to older excavation methods, hydrovac trucks provide maximum safety and precision to protect utilities.

Utilities require careful attention and care when exploring, uncovering, and excavating. Only the modern hydrovac excavation process can ensure the due protection, precision, and success.

Not only in replacing or installing underground utilities, but hydrovac excavation trucks are also helpful in repairing and maintaining them.

Mining

The mining industry also uses hydrovac excavation. Mining involves digging through different layers of the earth. Mechanical digging costs more in the repair and replacement of the blades and other components of the machines.

Hydrovac excavation, on the other hand, doesn’t involve downtime, labor cost, and other expenses as there is no mechanical device contacting directly with the soil.

Liquid Waste Removal

Hydrovac excavation becomes handy when you need to remove liquid waste. When it comes to removing waste, avoiding harm to the animals and people living nearby is crucial. Hydro vacuum excavation involves safe and environment-friendly waste removal.

In contrast, mechanical excavation does not provide instant and safe waste removal without affecting the environment and people. Hydrovac excavation trucks safely suck up waste and keep it in the vacuum tank. Limiting the chance of any smells, germs, and infections from spreading in the air while the truck takes the waste to the dumpsite.

Pot And Post Hole Digging

A well-maintained and beautiful city requires poles and posts for lighting and other purposes. Hydro vacuum excavation trucks can safely dig the holes for posts and poles in the city. There is minimum risk of any damage to nearby and adjacent property and infrastructure.

The modern excavation method allows the workers to enhance the beauty and functionality of the city without making the site a mess. For cities, the best excavation method is one that uses water and a vacuum truck.

Cleaning

Heavy rain, floods, or any other natural or infrastructure element can make the city messy. This is when there is a need for thorough and efficient cleaning across the city.
Hydro vacuum excavation becomes the best option for citywide cleaning.

When large-scale cleaning is the requirement, hydrovac excavation becomes the most efficient option due to many reasons such as time efficiency, safety, precision, and convenience. The vacuum tank proves to be the best for sucking up dirty water and waste and putting it away safely and securely.

Ghost Hydrovac provides the most efficient and reliable excavation services across Alberta and British Columbia. To get in touch with us, click here.

Hydrovac excavation is the modern way of excavation. It is a safe and efficient method, unlike the traditional approaches of drilling and digging soil. If you don’t want to cause any damage to your underground utilities during the excavation process, follow these tips below:

Use An Oscillating Nozzle

You might not realize, but it is a fact that water is a strong source and can damage your utilities. You must execute your hydrovac excavation efficiently. To keep the efficiency of the process, you need to ensure that the nozzle is constantly rotating. By doing so, you can reduce the water pressure exerted on the utility and avoid consequential damage.

The rotating nozzle offers a consistent stream of water that softens the soil entirely without harming your utilities.

Keep Your Water Pressure At 3000 psi

Keeping an eye on your water pressure while excavating an underground utility is critical. To guarantee the efficiency and safety of the process, you must not exceed the 3000 psi limit. It is ideal to keep it between 2500 to 3000.

If you are using hot water, it is essential to keep the pressure low. Hot water can be more dangerous for utilities as compared to water at normal temperatures.

Keep An 8 Inch Distance From The Utility

When executing the hydrovac excavation process, your prime focus must be to avoid damaging the utilities. You must keep a safe distance from the utility. When using the hydrovac, keep the nozzle 8 inches away from the utility to ensure safety.

If you bring the nozzle too close to the utility, there is a risk that you may damage the utility. Keeping the safe distance will ensure the successful completion of the process.

Move The Nozzle Constantly

It is also critical to constantly move the nozzle. If you keep the nozzle at one spot for a long time, it might damage the utility despite using the rotating nozzle. Especially if you are not using the rotating nozzle, it is pivotal to keep a constant motion.

Doing so will guarantee two things. First, it will reduce the risk of damage, and second it will enable the operator to spray water uniformly and soften the soil efficiently for easy soil movement. When the soil is easily moveable, the overall efficiency and precision of the excavation process enhances.

Not Digging With The Nozzle

When using the nozzle to put water pressure on the soil for excavation, you might think you can dig the soil too directly with the nozzle. However if you were to dig the soil by putting the nozzle in the soil you can clog it.

When the nozzle gets clogged, it can result in delays. When an excavation process takes too long to complete, it is no longer efficient. The reduction of time and enhanced smoothness is beneficial for the excavation workers and the client. To avoid any delays in the excavation process, you must be careful not to bring the nozzle close to the soil.

Ghost Hydrovac offers state-of-the-art, safe, and reliable hydrovac excavation services. We have professionally trained workers and modern equipment to deliver the best services to our clients across Alberta and British Columbia. To get in touch with us, click here.

The hydro excavation process is replacing traditional methods of excavation. This is because it is safer for underground utilities and creates less mess. Many excavation companies rent out hydrovac trucks for short and long-term projects.

A frequent debate is whether or not to buy or rent out these hydrovac trucks. This will often depend on your situational requirements and your budget. However, many times, renting such services has proved to be more beneficial. In this blog post we will discuss the benefits of renting such hydrovac services for all types of projects.

Requires No Maintenance

Owning expensive machinery comes with the responsibility of having a full-time mechanic. This can be costly, along with setting a separate cost for truck maintenance. The foremost benefit of renting a hydrovac service is that you won’t have to maintain it. There is no cost for its maintenance or repair; thus, you can do your job more efficiently. Renting companies make sure that their rentals are well-maintained. So, this puts some responsibility on the rental company to maintain its equipment and quality.

Great For Seasonal Work

Another great benefit of renting hydrovac trucks is using them just for the task at hand. Rather than buying a hydrovac truck and having it sit for months, you can rent it out, do your job, and return it.

Truck rental companies can provide you with hydrovac trucks for rent during the peak season. Rental companies have trucks of different models, so you can try out different trucks before committing to buying one.

Decreased Downtime

Buying a truck doesn’t mean that you will have a backup truck if there is a problem with your hydrovac truck. Problems with your HVAC truck will cause downtime and badly affect your project till the truck is completely repaired. Renting a hydrovac truck saves you from downtime as you can call your rental company if there is any problem with your rented truck and they’ll send another one.

No Waiting For Delivery

Buying a hydrovac truck is not a simple process. It can take up to months before you gain its possession. This can cost you money or even the contract of the project you were working for. When you rent a hydrovac truck, it is immediately available to you.

Expansion Of Business

If your business is in the initial stages and you are thinking of expanding it, renting services would be beneficial at this stage. Rentals can allow you to expand your business ventures at a lower risk. If people are satisfied with your business or services, you can then think of expanding it and buying trucks yourself.

Affordable Solution

Hydrovac rental services are an affordable solution, especially when you need them temporarily or for a short period. Buying a hydrovac truck is costly, plus there is an additional cost for its maintenance, storage, mechanic, and driver. Renting a hydrovac truck is a cost effective way to do your excavation job and only pay for the time that you have it.

Get Hydrovac Rental Services From Ghost Hydrovac

Ghost Hydrovac is here to provide you with hydrovac truck renting services. You can hire us for demolition, construction, and landscaping projects. Our trucks are capable of bearing high load capacity in different excavation scenarios. Visit our website for a list of the services we offer or call us here.

As the name suggests, hydro-vac excavation is a method of excavation that uses water. It is a modern technique that saves time and effort and prevents damage on construction sites. Let’s now look at how it works and some of the specific applications of this method.

How Does Hydro-vac Excavation Work?

It is a soil removing method an excavation company offers. How this approach is different from traditional soil removing methods is the use of water. High-pressure water is used to remove the soil and uncover the underground utilities.

The pressure of the water creates a slurry of dirt. The excavating experts then remove this slurry of dirt using a vacuum method. When the slurry of dirt is removed, the underground layers and utilities are exposed.

This method’s most common utility is when you need to expose the pipelines and underground structures of an existing construction project for maintenance or replacement. Hydro-vac excavation provides an advantage when it comes to minimizing the chances of breaking any fixtures such as pipes and cables.

Some Major Applications Of Hydrovac Excavation

There are many applications of hydro-vac excavation. There are many general applications, as well as some particular ones which are discussed below;

Removing Debris

Debris can gather on the earth’s surface and cause problems for the citizens living in the area. Removing debris is one of the essential utilities of hydro-vac excavation. The excavation experts need to remove the soil to clear the debris that has gone under the ground. To clear the ground for other utilities or to start a construction project, debris removal is inevitable.

Installing Signs/Poles

Whenever there is a need to install a new sign or a pole, hydro-vac excavation is a very effective method. The removal of the soil becomes very easy with this method and reduces the time and effort required to a considerable extent.

There is no need to use any mechanical equipment that may damage the soil surrounding the site where you need to install the pole.

Uncovering Underground Utilities

Wherever you need to uncover underground utilities, hydro-vac excavation is the most effective and efficient soil removing method. Gone are the days when a typical drilling method was the only way to discover what was beneath the earth’s surface.

Technology has made the impossible possible. Now there are many ways of doing time consuming tasks efficiently.

Day Lighting

Daylighting is another application where hydro-vac excavation can be very effective. When you need to install a skylight or any other passage from the sun, go beneath the surface and light it up.

Daylighting can also be done in existing construction projects and buildings. When you need to make changes to the existing building, you need to take extra care not to damage the structure. This method also helps install windows, doors, and other passages for sunlight to reach different areas and stories underground.

Inspecting And Repairing Sewage Lines

Sewage lines need maintenance, repair, and replacement time and again. For this purpose, hydro-vac excavation reduces the time and effort of sewage workers. It removes the soil for the sewage workers so that they can do their work with complete access to the damaged spot.

Sewage fixtures can get damaged and start leaking from somewhere beneath the surface of the earth. To fix these pipes and sewage lines, you need an efficient soil removing method that does not cause further damage to the pipes. Hydro-vac excavation is the best option for the maintenance inspection, and replacement of the sewage pipes safely and successfully.

Ghost Hydrovac is a trusted and seasoned excavation expert with years of expertise in the field. To get in touch with us, click here.

Directional drilling is a specialized construction technique used by several companies worldwide. It includes laying items such as pipes and communication lines underground without digging up a trench, preserving the area’s aesthetic appeal. Horizontal directional drilling HDD involves three steps.

• First, a pilot hole is drilled directionally from one surface to another.
• The pilot hole is enlarged to make it wide enough to install a new pipeline.
• Lastly, the pipeline gets pulled into the hole.

There’s no need to employ large crews, perform costly digging, conduct road closures, and go through other traditional excavating and pipe installation complications when you’re using this method.

Here, we will discuss the six advantages of using horizontal directional drilling HDD technique in hydro excavation projects:

Quick And Efficient Installations

The horizontal directional drilling method makes for a much faster installation of underground utilities. Digging a trench underground to add a piping system does significant damage not only to the ground but also takes a considerable amount of time to put everything back together.

However, using the directional drilling technique requires digging only one pilot hole and a machine to replace the underground piping system. Using the HDD method means displacing, reburying, and disposing of lesser dirt compared to conventional methods. This ensures maximum time savings for different excavation purposes, including water and sewer line and utilities.

Increased Durability

One significant advantage of horizontal directional drilling is that it makes use of increasingly durable materials with a long useful lifespan. Besides this, it provides increased utility placement accuracy, avoiding potential damages during the installation process. HDD allows efficient pipe and utility installation under rivers, driveways, and burying these lines improves the overall processes durability.

Less Disruptions

Horizontal directional Drilling displaces less soil and doesn’t require you to dig down into a property’s entire length of underground utilities. This helps to preserve landscaping without causing any disruptions.

Disruption refers to the overall disrupted landscaping and the amount of time taken to complete a particular hydro excavation project. HDD reduces both these factors significantly, which is why it’s the most preferred drilling technique today.

Decreased Costs

As horizontal directional drilling is a quicker technique, it also means lower process costs. Also, less dirt displacement means a lesser need for dirt replacement, which saves time. HDD also requires fewer operators; which results in significant savings in terms of workforce. There’s usually less equipment needed as this method doesn’t rely on backhoes and other heavy equipment rentals, reducing overall costs.

Enhanced Location Flexibility

Horizontal directional drilling provides obstruction-free pipes, water and sewer lines, and utility installation. Suppose you need to place a utility line under a road, driveway, river, or area where the line must curve; horizontal drilling allows for all as it’s an increasingly flexible drilling method.

Fewer Permit Issues

Whether you need to drill an area for a residential or commercial purpose, horizontal directional drilling requires little to no permitting. This is because it’s a drilling method that causes significantly less disturbance and debris. You also don’t need to block traffic when using HDD compared to traditional drilling techniques.

As HDD has fewer works and equipment requirements, it’s relatively easier to get approval from concerned authorities to perform the required drilling job.

About Ghost Hydrovac

Ghost Hydrovac offers specialized hydro excavation services, including horizontal directional drilling across Alberta and BC. Visit our website to learn more about our services or contact us here for personalized service.