Hydrovacs: The Key to Successful Trenching

Trenching, the process of digging narrow holes, is a necessary component of construction efforts like utility or drainage system installation and landscaping. Typically deeper than they are wide, trenches have a width of no more than fifteen feet.

Workers often use shovels, spades, trenchers, and excavators to form trenches, but there’s another extremely valuable piece of equipment you may not be considering: hydrovacs. Equipped with hydraulic systems, hydrovac trucks release highly pressurized water from a tank and utilize it to liquefy soil. Afterwards, hydrovacs use high-capacity vacuums to clean up any debris left behind.

Hydrovacs can be an asset on trenching projects, creating trenches in a safe, efficient, and precise manner. Keep reading to learn about a few trenching projects that benefit from hydrovac technology. 

What trenching projects can hydrovacs help with?

Utility line repairs and installation

Unlike other trenching tools like shovels and spades, hydrovacs have a knack for minimizing destruction. Hydrovacs work with impressive precision, easily excavating in small spaces by spraying pressurized water through a nozzle.

Hydrovacs have a reputation for exactness, meaning they can work near fragile or sensitive items without causing damage. Let’s say a group of workers is digging trenches in order to repair a water main or telephone lines. Hydrovacs can perform this task with ease, eliminating the risks associated with using metal tools so close to these utilities.

Think of it this way: accidentally hitting a utility line with pressurized water is far less dangerous than slamming down a shovel in the wrong place and potentially causing a fire or a gas leak.

By reducing the potential for damage, hydrovacs save companies time and money. When workers use a hydrovac instead of another tool, they can avoid the headache of paying for the repairs often required after more destructive equipment is used. 

Frozen ground trenching

Bad weather can be ruthless, disrupting work days or even bringing entire projects to a halt. When winter weather swoops in and temperatures drop, the soil is subject to freezing. When dirt hardens, trenching projects become significantly more challenging. On particularly frigid days, breaking ground to build trenches can be almost impossible.

Spades, shovels, and excavators are no match for rock-solid soil. Hydrovacs, on the other hand? These trucks keep work days flowing even in the cold, using heated water to rupture the hard dirt and make trenching possible.

When heating systems go out on freezing winter days, hydrovacs allow workers to dig through tough ground and trench around infrastructural elements to get things back up and running. If you live in a place known for brutal winters, hydrovacs may become necessary to keep productivity moving, no matter how low the temperature goes.

Trenching in hard-to-reach places

When it comes to tough construction jobs, having the proper equipment makes all the difference. Hydrovacs are the superior trenching tool in many circumstances, including trenching in confined or narrow spaces.

When trenching must be done in, say, a highly congested urban area, it can be difficult for workers to maneuver heavy equipment around people and buildings,

Hydrovacs are equipped with hoses, some of which are so long that they can access places up to 600 feet away and slip into spots that trenchers or excavators would be too intrusive in.

This hydrovac benefit also comes into play in other confined areas, like residential yards or sewage systems. When you use a hydrovac instead of another tool, you expand your company’s capacity to do work.

Landscaping

When you notice that your garden needs a facelift, it might be time to bring in a hydrovac or two.

Abundantly useful for landscaping purposes, hydrovacs can dig trenches for large lawn necessities like industrial sprinkler systems, drainage pipes, and sidewalks. Hydrovacs can also contribute to aesthetic appeal by building trenches for water lines to sustain fountains or ponds.

For government buildings, storage facilities, public parks, and other businesses with large lawns, hydrovacs can perform commercial landscaping efficiently to make the space beautiful and aesthetically appealing to visitors. By creating deep trenches, hydrovacs help divert water flow away from important buildings and parking areas.

Cleanliness is another major perk of hydrovacs. When dirt gets out of place due to wind or other factors, it can make the exterior space look less than perfect. Hydrovacs will suck up the mess before you even notice it’s there. 

Need a hydrovac for your next trenching job?

By now, you understand why hydrovacs are the ideal piece of equipment for trenching. If you’re looking to purchase a reliable hydrovac, you can check out the high-quality hydrovac trucks available on our website or stop by one of our locations today for a better look.