6 Reasons Why You Should Choose Non-Destructive Digging Over Traditional Excavation Techniques

The hydro-excavation process utilises a vacuum alongside highly pressurised water to excavate earth without damaging underground utilities. Also known as daylighting or non-destructive digging, this technique can be used in digging utility holes or trenching. Compared to conventional excavation methods that use backhoes and drills, hydro-excavation has many cost-saving benefits, including the following.

It's Much Faster

Using hydro-excavation saves more time and labour, which makes it an efficient and cost-effective solution. Besides, it's much faster since it removes the need to use dump trucks to transport debris to dump sites. The vacuum hydro-excavation process sucks up displaced debris into the truck's storage tank. This cuts down on storage and transportation costs for onsite waste compared to traditional digging techniques.

It's Less Labour Intensive

Conventional excavation methods are more labour intensive due to the tools used, such as backhoes. As such, it requires more workers to get the job done. Conversely, fewer workers are needed on projects running hydro-excavators. 

Offers Excellent Precision

In some scenarios, municipal statutes prohibit the use of traditional excavation techniques, especially for projects with sensitive pre-existing conditions like underground utilities. However, hydro-excavation ensures project compliance by minimising backfilling and other unnecessary repairs commonly seen in traditional excavation methods. 

It's Much Safer

Generally, traditional excavation techniques are labour-intensive and require more equipment and even explosives in some instances. Such methods are associated with additional risk factors, including falling debris, landslides and even cave-ins. Consequently, this creates a hazardous working environment. 

Furthermore, cold weather leads to frozen ground that's much harder to cut through. That, in turn, makes traditional excavation even much dangerous. In contrast, hydro-excavation utilises water-emitting extensions, which offers workers a safe distance from the job site. 

Minimised Service Interruptions

The use of conventional excavation methods like drilling can cause service interruptions due to subsurface infrastructure damage. These are typically costly repairs, which can add up to millions of dollars, especially for large-scale projects. With hydro-excavation, however, this problem is of little concern since it offers little or no damage to underground facilities.  

Reduced Insurance Rates

Since it's considered a safe and less risky excavation method to the environment, insurance firms provide lucrative rates to companies using hydro-excavation. Consequently, clients get to enjoy the savings that are passed down to them in the long run. In contrast, traditional excavation methods are considered riskier, and thus insurance agencies set higher rates. That, in turn, makes the overall project more expensive.

Final Thoughts

Considering all the cost-saving benefits discussed above, hydro-excavation or non-destructive digging remains the excavation method of choice for many public utility companies. If you are planning your next excavation project, consider using this technique to reap maximum benefits.

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