Effective & Safe Excavation Around Utilities
ABOUT AIR & HYDRO EXCAVATION
BROWSE EQUIPMENT
PRECISION, UTILITY-SAFE HYDRO & AIR EXCAVATION
Not every problem can be solved with a bulldozer and backhoe. Sometimes you need a bit more finesse. For the times when you need to dig with precision, slice through frozen ground, or expose buried utilities, a hydro excavator is the tool for the job. Hydro excavator vehicles work by using a pressurized jet of water to penetrate and break up the ground exactly where the operator wishes. Then, as the ground is broken up and loosened, it is removed by a powerful vacuum hose and stored in the debris tank for transport and dumping. This water and vacuum-based excavation method means you’ve got an efficient, environmentally friendly, and safe process that likely won’t require any back-filling and won’t endanger buried gas lines, fiber optics, or other delicate items. Similarly, air excavation can be used for even more fragile utilities, or when the ground consists of looser, lighter soil. Some hydro excavators, such as the Super Products Mud Dog (shown below), are capable of performing both hydro excavation and air excavation, so you can be equipped for any environment.
Hydro & Air Excavation Applications
Once you’ve tried excavating with water, we know you’re going to dig it. But what exactly is “it” that you’re going to dig? There are many applications for hydro excavation:
Expose Buried Utilities and Installations – Potholing, Daylighting, Keyholing
Since hydro and air excavators are able to dig up small areas without damaging buried pipes, gas lines, and the like, one of their most common uses is digging around or near such subterranean installations. Perhaps you need to install something new near an existing buried utility, or excavate a pipe to check for damage or perform repairs. Air and hydro excavation can quickly and safely expose these pipes and wires so maintenance can be performed.
Slot Trenching
If you can dig a hole, you can dig a trench! Once again, the precision of pressurized water or air allows for the digging of narrow trenches which would be a big hassle with traditional, bulky mechanical excavation equipment. Hydro excavators are the ideal machine for efficiently installing underground pipes and cables, or digging holes for posts and signs.
Remote Digging
When your mechanical excavator can’t even reach the dig site, your hydro excavator can work from a distance. For example, the Mud Dog 1200 features a rear-mounted, telescoping boom that reaches 27 feet, has 335° rotation and moves in a 45° upward and 22° downward pivot. Not to mention that the vacuum hose has multiple aluminum attachments to allow it to reach deep. It also comes standard with 100 feet of hose. The operator can even control the boom, water pump, and more with a wireless remote control. Hydro excavators are perfect for tricky, difficult to access locations.
Frozen Ground Digging
Digging in cold weather can be time consuming and difficult with traditional methods. With a hydro excavator, there’s no need to heat the ground before digging, because you’ll be heating it while digging! Hydro excavators use heated water, so you get the power of pressurized water in a small area, plus ground-thawing heat energy. It’s a combination that makes this perhaps the most hassle-free method of precision digging in cold weather.
Hydro Excavation vs. Air Excavation
Hydro excavation and air excavation use essentially the same method to dig, and both are used for precise, utility-safe excavation. So what’s the difference? Basically, the usage of one over the other will depend on the type of ground being excavated. Hydro excavation is capable of applying higher pressure than air excavation, and so it is ideal for frozen, rocky, or other hard, compressed soil. If, however, the ground is loose and light, or there are buried utilities that are particularly fragile, air excavation might be just fine. Digging with pressurized air means that there’s no need to refill the water supply, and there’s less wet soil to clean up. But the decision between hydro and air excavation need not be a question of “either or”, when there are options available that can do both.
Digging in cold weather can be time consuming and difficult with traditional methods. With a hydro excavator, there’s no need to heat the ground before digging, because you’ll be heating it while digging! Hydro excavators use heated water, so you get the power of pressurized water in a small area, plus ground-thawing heat energy. It’s a combination that makes this perhaps the most hassle-free method of precision digging in cold weather.