A Little Light on the Subject?

Potholing or daylighting is the process of digging a test hole to expose underground facilities. This is to check those facilities for cracks, leaks or any kind of damage. Industrial, commercial and residential communities all need to “daylight” their facilities from time to time. This is important in the maintenance of underground pipes, sewers, etc. Hydro excavation can save you labor, time and money with these types of jobs.

The Advantage Over Traditional Methods

Traditionally, potholing or daylighting is done using a backhoe or by hand or shovel digging. A backhoe is a heavy piece of equipment that has a digging bucket mounted on a tractor. Since the digging bucket is large, it poses a risk of damaging the underground utilities and moves far more dirt than is necessary.

Heavy machinery also brings safety risks to nearby citizens and to the laborers. A malfunction in the equipment can cause tragic accidents that can be avoided using the hydro excavation methods instead.

The Advantage Over Hand Digging

Hand digging is a very intensive job and it takes too much time to get done. Also, it is not accurate enough to move only the necessary amount of soil. This means that backfilling would be needed after the excavation. More time and money will need to be spent because of this.

With the development of hydro excavation, however, you can eliminate nearly all of the downsides of traditional potholing and daylighting excavation methods. It provides a safe and non-mechanical process that will keep everyone involved secure. It also does a more accurate job to make sure that there will be no additional expenses.

If you need potholing or daylighting services in the Chicagoland Area, be sure to call Utility HydroVac.