Hydro Excavation
Let’s Define Hydro Excavation. Hydro excavation uses high-pressure water to break up the soil, with little risk of utility damage, when using this equipment and technology. Hydro Excavation is often recognized by the more common terms, like vacuum excavation, potholing, day lighting, and hydro-vac excavation.
Hydro Excavation is the process of removing or moving soil with pressurized water. An air conveyance or vacuum is then used to transfer the soil or debris to a debris tank. This allows for a non-destructive and more accurate way to excavate soil and locate underground utilities.
The popularity of hydro excavation today started with oil and gas industries in Canada. The Canadian contractors were able to see the efficiency of hydro excavation as compared to other methods of daylighting.
The cold weather in Canada often caused the soil to be frozen. This made it harder to excavate using traditional methods. Canadian contractors discovered that using hydro excavation with heated water was a good way to get the job done.
We will discuss the safety benefits of Hydro Excavation in this week’s series of talks.