What We Do
Daylighting/Line Locating/Utility Excavation
With underground utility corridors becoming increasingly congested, it is very important whenever digging in the ground to know exactly where underlying facilities are before using powered excavation equipment such as a backhoe. Although the locations of newer facilities being buried are well documented, there are many older lines that are not. As a result, hundreds of lines are contacted and damaged each year with powered mobile equipment, causing millions of dollars in damage. Because of this, owners of buried facilities require their lines to be located anytime anyone may be working near them. These locates are usually done electronically from above ground, and while digital locates have become more accurate with the advancement of technology, they are seldom exact.
To prevent contact with their pipelines, fiber optic cable, water line, power cable, etc. owners require anyone digging within certain distances of them to not only locate them, but to find their exact location by exposing them using non-destructive methods (WITHOUT the use of powered mobile equipment), otherwise known as daylighting. Shovelling is one method of daylighting. Another much easier and quicker method is hydrovacing. Hydrovacing uses high pressure water to break up soil, then vacuums up the slurry that is created using a powerful vacuum. Often called potholing or keyholing, this soft excavation method can quickly expose buried utilities without causing damage to them. Once the pipeline or utility has been exposed to the daylight (hence the term), workers can then excavate around them using traditional methods without fear of unintentional damage to them, because they know exactly where they are. This makes for safe, cost effective excavation, not to mention peace of mind.