We can talk about hydro excavation since the mid 1800’s, when steam pump-pressurized water has been used in California, for mining for gold and other minerals. At that time, the process used to be known as hydraulic mining.

In the meantime, technology improved a lot and the first hydro excavation services machine was built in 1969.

Today, hydro excavation from companies such as Hydrodig is considered the safest form of excavation. It is also referred as potholing, hydrovac excavation or daylighting. The technology behind it consists in high pressure water used for breaking up the soil and industrial vacuums that remove it precisely and store it into a tank.

Traditional excavation is risky, because there are underground utilities everywhere and accidents may happen even when they are marked. By using hydro excavation, the risk of utility damage is eliminated, as well as all the other negative consequences.

Other significant advantages of hydro excavation include fast removal of the earth, which minimizes disruption to area, creation of a direct path to an underground utility, workers stay above the ground and the landscape is not affected.

Hydro excavation has many uses:

• Slot Trenching
• Debris Removal
• Exposing Utilities
• Piling
• Hole Excavation
• Cold Weather Digging