Non destructive digging
NDD digs with high pressure water and a strong vacuum. This is also called hydro excavation. Big diggers can easily damage pipes and cables in the ground. Our way keeps that risk very low. It’s a safe way to uncover what’s down there.
Our hydro crews are trained to find pipes and cables and dig them out with water. Then they take exact measurements for upkeep, or remove old or broken ones.
Hydro digging can be hard and complex, so you need a team of pros on your job. Our team has the skills and experience to do it right. Vacuum digging is safer, cleaner and costs less than other ways of digging. Read more about how non destructive digging works.
What NDD is used for
- Exposing water and sewer pipes, gas lines, and phone and data cables so they can be repaired.
- Checking what’s under the ground before a job starts.
- Digging for building work.
- Taking soil samples without mixing up the layers.
- Opening up a pipe for trenchless relining when there’s no other way in.
It suits jobs of all sizes, for utilities, councils, builders, homes and businesses.
How hydro excavation works
Plan the job
We work out what the job needs and look over the site.
Mark the ground
We park the hydro vac truck and mark out the area to dig. It might be a single hole or a trench.
Loosen the soil
A strong jet of water breaks up soil and rock. We aim it only where we need to dig, so the ground around it stays intact.
Vacuum it up
A large suction hose draws the loose soil, rock and water into a tank on the truck.
Empty or backfill
The truck drives off to empty its tank. Or the soil goes straight back into the hole when the job is done, which cuts waste.
Key benefits
- Less lifting and handling by hand, so crews are safer.
- Boom arms and hydraulic arms are easy to move and mean less lifting.
- 60% or more fewer pipes and cables damaged than with normal digging.
- Cleaner, smaller work sites.
- Less disruption and less waste.
- Suction cuts noise for people nearby. It also limits shaking that could damage homes.
Our combination jet vac units also dig potholes to find pipes and cables.
Built for busy, built up sites
In built up areas, heavy digging can shake the ground and damage the homes next door. NDD is precise, so the risk to nearby buildings is much lower.
It’s also gentle on the land. We dig out only a small patch, with no heavy machines tracking over the ground, so plants and wildlife nearby stay mostly undisturbed.
One truck does it all. Digging used to take a drill to break the ground, an excavator to scoop it out and a truck to cart it away. Fewer crew and less clean up keep the cost down. On some jobs the gear can even be run by remote, so the crew stands back at a safe distance.