Why Civil Contractors Should Implement Vacuum Excavation

Issues surrounding excavation works at civil construction projects involve strikes, safety, time efficiency and the burden of the work itself. For this, contractors will need to adapt non-destructive digging methods if such things are the issues. In short, they need to practice vacuum excavation and get done with backhoe operation and manual digging. Why so?

Utilising Backhoes, Increasing the Problems

Construction workers typically operate backhoes to dig potholes, trenches and excavations, but if you are going to ask the civil contractors, using backhoes is not really their preferred method of digging and excavating. At times, it is too risky to operate it especially in small areas or locations with limited or no access to large equipment including backhoes and dump trucks.

Contractors want to ensure using the equipment will not strike any underground utilities. However, the power to control the equipment lies in the hands of the operator. The operator cannot operate the backhoes without a spotter who have to be present to inspect or observe the digging process. He communicates with the backhoe operator and signals the latter when a buried facility is sighted. But even with a spotter present, even the most skilled of backhoe operators can hit and damage the utility which they were trying to locate and to protect.

Manual Digging Is Tiresome and Time-consuming

If contractors cannot bring their excavators and other earth-moving vehicles to limited spaces, what they can do is to excavate the area by hand. This means they will have to dig manually using shovels or spades, pickaxes, hand augers, drills and hand tools. Manual hand excavation is advantageous in small areas.

Though safe, workers will still need to watch out as they can still strike any underground facilities such as electric cable and plastic or PVC water pipelines because they are using sharp tools. Moreover, this method requires a labour force that is adequate to work in a particular land area size as it rules out the use of large machines. If the area to be excavated is large, you will need a large workforce to excavate the area in a given time frame. This is also a very tiring and time-consuming work, and this could put your workers are risk of carpal tunnel syndrome – because workers cannot use machines.

Vacuum Excavation: Safe, Swift and Accurate

If contractors are going to rule out backhoes and manual digging in a particular excavation job, they can still explore another digging option, which is a non-destructive digging method to be precise. Why use conventional excavation methods any longer if there is a safe and time-efficient alternative?

Vacuum excavation provides contractors a non-destructive digging method for locating and exposing any underground facilities in the most efficient and safest manner. There are two methods of vacuum excavations: Air and hydro. Vacuum excavation entails the use of a truck-mounted vacuum excavator which generates high pressurised air or water to break up the surface and to collect the debris. This method gives you the option to adjust the pressure of the air and water when breaking up the surface.

One can say that vacuum excavation is a two-in-one function. The air or hydro vacuum excavator equipment does not only break up the ground but it also collects (sucks up) the debris as the excavator truck also has a storage tank that has enough storage capacity to store rock, soil and other spoils. You can also operate the excavator to backfill the potholes or trenches after the purposes of excavation have been accomplished.

This not only rules out the need for dump trucks and additional equipment but also personnel to perform and inspect the work. Even two people can excavate using vacuum excavation and complete a number of potholes or trenches in any given day.

A non-destructive digging method such as vacuum excavation would reduce the need of equipment and personnel. With this contractors can focus on quality digging results. Thus, excavation issues are eliminated.

For your non-destructive digging needs, please contact  YunzContracting today. Please visit our website   for more details.