Hydro Excavation has one primary purpose…to mitigate hazards.
Hydro excavation (hydro vac, daylighting, vacuum excavation) is an industry of specialized equipment that utilizes water to break up the soil and high air flow vacuum to remove the soil in order excavate non-destructively.
The advantages of hydro excavation:
- Excavate as deep as 70 feet
- Excavate as far as 500 feet from the truck where the truck can park
- Safely excavate in congested or sensitive areas.
- Safely excavate under overhead restrictions.
- Minimize ground disturbance leaving a small “footprint”
- Eliminate damage to underground infrastructure
- Eliminate delays due to damage to utilities.
Fundamental Industry Truths
There are four questions that every hydro excavation company should ask you when setting up a job. They are:
What type of excavation do you need to make?
- Potholing – digging in pre-determined areas to “daylight” known utilities
- Slot Trenching – dig a trench (typically 6” wide) to locate utilities in an area where the exact location is unknown
- Boxes – dig a box in lieu of a traditional excavator (usually for a line repair or tie-in)
Do you have a 2 inch water fill location on site?
- Hydro excavators generally require a 2” water fill source (think a fire hydrant or water truck). If you don’t have a water source, Vecta will be happy to provide one.
How close can we park our truck to the location we are digging?
Most hydro excavators have extendable booms that can reach out about 20+ feet from where we park our truck. However, we can utilize remote hose to dig as far as 400-500 feet from our truck utilizing “remote hose”. The closer you park the truck to where you are digging the higher the production.
- The number one cost saver for hydro vac is to dump the soils from hydro excavation on site.
- If there is not a place to dump the spoils on-site disposal off-site can be arranged. That said, offsite disposal can be extremely varied based on job specifics. Dumping off-site is ALWAYS more expensive. Further distance from the truck requires additional labor and few materials.
Is there a dump on site?
- The number one cost saver for hydro vac is to dump the soils from hydro excavation on site.
- If there is not a place to dump the spoils on-site disposal off-site can be arranged. That said, offsite disposal can be extremely varied based on job specifics. Dumping off-site is ALWAYS more expensive.
Cost and Estimation:
Vecta is well qualified to assist you in estimating your hydro excavation project. We are really proud of our ability to estimate hydro vac as we have noticed the market underperforming in this area. The above four questions will be used to ascertain the size of your excavation in cubic yards and pricing will be extrapolated from there considering if you have water on site, how close we can park our truck and is there a dump on site. We can provide:
- Day Rates
- Time and Materials Estimates
- Lump Sum Bids
Market Segment:
Hydro vac is rapidly becoming increasingly larger part of the construction business due to its undeniable safety record. This growth is not only in industrial construction, but commercial and utility construction as well. Due to the rapid growth hydro excavation market, many companies are growing too fast in a quest for market share. Vecta’s place in this market is to provide consistency and excellence in project management where the majority of the industry is growth at any cost. In short, we are a privately owned company concentrating on quality and have a long-term business plan. We do this by:
- Both owners are “from the field” and understand that the job gets done on the job site…not in the office.
- The owners are actively involved in the day to day operations/quality control.
- The leader team interacts daily both primary management and the “boots on the ground”
- Minimize turnover by competitive pay and above industry standard health benefits.
- Career counseling and in-house promotion are preferred methods of growth.