Cold Weather Digging

Cold Weather Digging

Serving Vancouver WA | Portland OR

Plumbing excavation technology has come a long way in the last few decades, and hydro excavating is one of the most exciting innovations. Hydro excavating is as simple as it sounds: a method of excavation that utilizes water. One of the best applications for this type of excavation is with cold weather digging for plumbing.

Methods of Frozen Ground Excavation

There are two main methods of cold weather digging, and each have their individual processes. Before hydro excavation, digging into frozen ground was costly, time consuming, and even dangerous, making cold weather digging inconvenient and more expensive than most homeowners were willing to pay. With hydro excavation, a lot of those concerns are completely taken care of!

Traditional Frozen Ground Excavation

Excavators can’t dig into ground that’s frozen solid. If they did, machinery would become dull or even break much too quickly to be cost-effective. Depending on your location, digging into frozen ground might even be impossible!

Traditional frozen ground excavation relies on heat to warm the ground before digging can take place. In most cases, this involves burning piles of wood, coal, or other flammable substances on the surface. Once small progress is made, a hole can be dug, and the burning begins again. If the hole is longer than a foot, this process can be incredibly time consuming. Burning materials in order to thaw the ground can also be dangerous, if not handled correctly.

Hydro Excavation

This method of trenchless excavation is incredibly effective. Instead of manual digging, hydro excavation uses high pressure water that’s used to break up ground and soil where needed, leaving the rest of the environment undisturbed.

During cold weather, the water can be heated within the truck system. The hot water can then be used to cut through frozen earth while reducing excavation time, the danger of burning materials, and even expense!

What kinds of companies offer frozen ground excavation?

Hydro excavation is a fairly recent innovation, and require expensive equipment that not all companies are able to afford or even use on a regular basis. There are some excavation contractors that have access to hydro excavators, but they are typically only experienced in excavation–not the excavation techniques that are specifically required by plumbing projects.

Pacific Plumbing & Drain Services is proud to offer hydro excavation. We’re committed to plumbing technology innovation, and we love the idea of helping our neighbors with the excavation needs year-round. If you need cold weather digging, contact Pacific Plumbing & Drain Services today!