What is Vacuum Excavation?

Need to expose a buried utility to positively identify it? Or to meet your Duty of Care to the Asset owner? Or maybe you just want to dig a hole or trench and be 100% certain of not damaging the precious infrastructure that lies beneath, then Vacuum Excavation is the answer that you are looking for.

Also known as Vac X, Hydro Excavation, NDD or non-Destructive Digging, it is the process of using high-pressure water (pressure should be limited to no more than 2,000psi or as specified by the asset owner) to break up the soil and a high-capacity vacuum extraction system for the removal of the spoil.

Vacuum excavation is a process with a much longer history than many might imagine. It’s believed that during 1850, miners in California worked to remove land masses and gold by using steam pumps to target pressurised water. Move forward a century and miners in cold climates, such as North America, looked for an alternative to standard digging. Standard digging was impossible for many working locations that were often tundra. In this case, hydro excavation was an effective solution with the use of heated water. As the hydro excavation process became more refined, it increasingly became a go-to solution for many excavation projects across Australia and everywhere else.

What is a vacuum truck?

More commonly known as a Vac Truck, the process of vacuum excavation serves many purposes with the most common centred on digging and collecting dirt around an underground utility or cable, without using traditional digging tools or machines. This process has become popular in recent decades as it alleviates the risks commonly associated with conventional digging via excavator and shovel. Using non-destructive digging techniques like vacuum excavation has proven to significantly mitigate the risk of line strikes

▶ mergency repairs to damaged pipes or cables

▶ Clearing blocked drains

▶ Safely digging trenches

▶ And of course, the exposure of buried pipes and cables so that they can be positively identified and utility damage, while also decreasing project time.

Super versatile, Vac trucks can also be used for a variety of tasks including but not limited to:

▶ Clearing of confined spaces

▶ Clearing around tree root

▶ Used extensively for cleaning up after recent northern NSW and Queensland floods

Vac trucks come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are flexible enough to do almost any job, anywhere. Ranging in size from small 1,000lt trailer mounted units all the way through to massive 10 or 12,000lt semi-trailer units. System comprises the following major components, water storage, high pressure water blaster (regulated to 2,000psi) and connected to a water lance fitted with a specialised digging nozzle. The vacuum source is provided in one of two ways: either through a positive displacement blower or a fan system. The fan system is easier to use. It effectively moves huge amounts of air; this means it delivers faster excavations and is usually both lighter and less expensive than the alternative displacement blower systems. The material “Vacuumed” up is stored in a container mounted on the truck to be disposed of later.

What are the benefits of vacuum excavation?

The main benefit of using a Vac Truck is that there will be minimum damage to existing and underground fixtures of pipework, cabling, and power or other lines. Because the work carried out is more precise and accurate there is less need for backfilling. Vacuum excavation is far more advanced and safer than usual methods of digging around pipes and cables because the process is much more controlled. A cleaner workspace is delivered because of this precision and the removal of the spoil into the on-board storage vessel.

The bottom line.

Vacuum Excavation is the safe and efficient method of excavating around buried utilities. It should be considered for any task where there is a possibility of damaging the infrastructure that utility owners have put in the ground. Eliminate the cost, the stress and the potential of personal injury caused by asset strikes.