Excavation Services

Maximize Your Historic Preservation Efforts with Hydrovac Excavation

Historic preservations are popular city projects. Whether a booming Texas city is trying to preserve its historic downtown or nature parks want to install better amenities, renovation projects are a tricky mix of old and new. If your new renovation project has you modifying existing utilities or electrical systems near historic landmarks, turn to hydrovac excavation for more precise excavating.

Maximize Your Historic Preservation Efforts with Hydrovac Excavation

Here’s how hydro excavation can help you manage daylighting and trenching with a minimum of disruption to the historic surroundings:

Target the utility lines precisely.

It’s always challenging to find utilities and underground lines, even in well-planned cities. It can be even trickier if you’re working in an area that doesn’t have standardized layouts or complete records. A trained team of hydrovac technicians can locate the lines with a minimum of sod and soil disruption. This is even more important near old trees, cobbled walking paths, and other settings that need to be preserved.

Contain the dirt away from the landscapes and buildings.

When you’re working in an entirely new construction zone, there’s more room to shift the dirt aside and keep working. But if you’re expanding or renovating an already developed area, you have fewer options.

Hydrovac trucks can contain the slurry of water and removed soil while excavation is underway. This keeps surrounding grass and landscaping safe. It also means you will have less cleanup at the end of the project.

Keep the rest of the preservation efforts on schedule.

Hydrovac excavation is the superior choice for all daylighting, trenching, and excavation projects. It’s safer and less disruptive. You greatly reduce the odds of having a utility strike or emergency that slows the rest of the build.

If you are undertaking a renovation or construction project at a historic preservation site or nature project, contact our team today. 4 Warriors Hydro Excavating will provide a team of experienced excavation technicians to unearth your utilities.

Why You Should Hire a Hydrovac Service Instead of Renting Equipment

Construction sites can be dangerous places, but they’re also pretty crowded. If you have a lot of people onsite or narrow working areas, it can be tempting to rent equipment and have contractors already at the site do the work. But when you need to excavate utilities, the equipment is only half of the total package. Make sure you hire experienced professionals who can work efficiently while delivering safety.

Why You Should Hire a Hydrovac Service Instead of Renting Equipment

Safe processes matter with hydrovac excavation.

Water and electricity don’t mix, but that’s precisely what hydrovac services involve: using a precise measure of pressurized air and water to unearth utility lines. The slightest deviation from recommended handling or aim can be disastrous, especially if your team is unfamiliar with handling the equipment. But a trained service can:

Excavate the required lines without disturbing adjacent zones.

Experienced excavators know how to interpret all of the ground markings at a glance to avoid disaster. They can predict difficult areas and devise alternative routes for excavation that don’t slow down work at the site or damage the infrastructure. They can also respond faster to unexpected hazards.

Minimize everyone’s liability.

Professionals don’t just keep themselves and the site safe while they work. We can establish safety perimeters that keep other workers and site visitors away from the excavation hole, unearthed power lines, and active equipment. We also have the safety equipment to keep the worksite compliant with OSHA standards.

Hiring the work out to professionals also limits your own liability. While you or the general contractor maintain management of the site, professional excavators assume clearly delineated responsibilities.

Respond to environmental surprises.

Even if the best markings and site preparation, excavation takes a bit of revision. Trained excavators can adjust the water’s pressure according to different layers in the soil. They can also power down the psi at the first sign of incorrectly placed power cables.

Go to 4 Warriors Hydro Excavating here to learn more about our services and safety record.

3 Simple, But Important Questions to Ask Before Using Excavation Services

Just as you would do before hiring anyone to work on your property, whether that’s a roofer, plumber or some other contractor, there are a few keys things you want to ask an excavation contractor before using their services. If this is your first time hiring an excavation contractor, you have come to the right place! In this post, we will take a look at three key questions to ask before using excavation services.

3 Simple, But Important Questions to Ask Before Using Excavation Services

  1. What’s Going to Happen to my Property? If you meet an excavation contractor who tells you an excavation job can be performed without any disturbance to your property, they aren’t being honest with you. Especially with major excavation jobs, there’s going to be a pretty big mess. Ask the excavation contractor what steps they’ll take to keep disturbances to a minimum and what their plan of action is for cleanup after the job. You don’t want to be left with a messy yard once the contractors leave; you want to know how they’ll handle it.
  2. Where Will The Dirt go? It is extremely likely that dirt will be a part of the excavation process, whether it’s in your backyard or in your basement. Reputable excavation contractors will know what to do with the dirt so that you aren’t left with the mess afterwards. Ask the company how they will dispose of the dirt once the job is done.
  3. How Will You Keep My Pipes Safe? You want to know that the safety of your pipes is a priority when excavators are working on your property. Ask the contractors how they plan to avoid hitting pipes and keep your pipe system damage-free during the job. If a pipe gets hit, you definitely want to know ahead of time what the company will do to fix the issue and cover the cost of damages.

For more information, contact us today!

Benefits of Vacuum Excavation

Digging the initial foundation of any new construction project is a very important part of the process that needs to be taken seriously. When going through the digging process, one of the most important parts of the process is to ensure you known where local utility lines and other hazards are located. One of the best ways to do this today is through vacuum excavation. There are several benefits of vacuum excavation that can make it the best option for you.

Benefits of Vacuum Excavation

Safe and Accurate

One of the main benefits of using vacuum excavation to identify the location of buried utility lines is that it is very safe and accurate. As opposed to using heavy machinery and getting into the holes in the ground, vacuum excavation can be completed entirely from above the ground using the excavation tools. The vacuum tools will then be able to clearly identify the depths and location of the utility lines and provide you with an extremely accurate report on location.

Works in all Terrain and Soil

Another advantage of vacuum excavation is that it will work in all types of terrain. Vacuum excavation is strong enough to work efficiently in soil, clay, rockier soil, and even if the ground is frozen during the middle of winter. The vacuum tube will also then store samples of the soil it cuts through to provide you with a more detailed look at the type of soil that you are working with.

Efficient

The third advantage of vacuum excavation is that it can be a very quick and efficient process. If you are on a tight timeline for your project, a vacuum excavation can be advantageous as it can be completed much faster than some of the other options.

If you are interested in vacuum excavation, you should contact us to learn more about the benefits and services we can provide.

Trenching and Excavating Safety Guidelines

Trenching and excavation are among the most dangerous construction jobs there are, which is why it is important to follow safety guidelines as outlined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to keep yourself and your crew safe while performing them.

Trenching and Excavating Safety Guidelines

Before getting started it is important to be clear about what trenching and excavating include. According to OSHA, trenching is the operation of digging trenches that are usually deep and wide. Their definition of excavation is the act of removing earth to build deep impressions in the ground, including trenches.

In other words, the two jobs are almost similar in many ways and for the purpose here can be used synonymously. What is beneficial for one, is most likely going to be good for the other.

Hazards of Trenching/Excavation Work

Each year trench collapses are responsible for hundreds of construction-related injuries. The caving in of trenches on excavation sites are the greatest threat to construction workers and many times end in fatality.

To protect you and your workers from such hazards, never enter or allow your workers to enter unsafe trenches. Any trench that is deeper than 5 feet has to have a general protective system in place. For trenches that are deeper than 20 feet, a safety system designed by an engineer is suggested.

If no engineer is available then it is also acceptable to use safety measures designed by highly-qualified engineers who have adequate experience in trench and excavation work.

Safety System

Some of the most common protective systems used to reduce the dangers of excavation work and trenching include:

  • Sloping: cutting the wall of the trench at an angle.
  • Aluminum Hydraulic Installation supports used to prevent cave-ins.
  • Shielding: using boxes to prevent cave-ins.

While the above-mentioned safety measures seem simple, there are a number of considerations that must be calculated for them to be effective. These include:

  • Soil Classification
  • Water Content
  • Depth
  • Materials
  • Weather

Since so many factors are involved in the design of safety systems as they pertain to trenching, OSHA suggests hiring a qualified person or team that can identify and resolve any potential hazards before construction workers begin excavation or enter any trench. This person or team must inspect the work site daily before the work starts.

General Guidelines

The safety guidelines mentioned above are by no means a substitute for professional safety advice. They do, however, give a general idea of the basics of creating a work-safe environment, especially for those who work at excavation sites.

Some other beneficial safety precautions are as follows:

  • Never use heavy equipment near the edges of a trench.
  • Always inspect the safety of a trench after rain.
  • Keep work material 2 feet from trench edges.
  • Inspect trenches each day before work starts.Always test for hazardous fumes in trenches before each shift.

About 4 Warriors Hydro Excavating

As a Christian family-owned business, 4 Warriors Hydro Excavating, believes in taking care of their customers – their family – as the Lord would want. The company offers some of the best workers and technicians in the industry and uses only top-rated machines and materials to perform their work. If you are interested in what 4 Warriors Hydro Excavating has to offer, contact us.

Choose a Hydro Dig for a Better Excavation Experience

You may ask “Why should I choose a hydro dig for my excavation?”  When you are looking for a company you can trust, a proven track record is key along with well thought out principles. 4 Warriors Hydro Excavating has both.

Choose a Hydro Dig for a Better Excavation Experience

Operating since 2015, 4 Warriors Hydro Excavating is a family company with business in multiple fields, on both federal and state levels, including oil and gas, pipeline, environmental, and construction.

Our goal as a Christian, family owned company is to not only make an impact on the industry but also on people’s lives. At the end of the day, we want our family to take care of your family. We’ve been blessed with some of the best operators and techs in the industry and also top of the line equipment. 4 Warriors Hydro Excavating is not only the most reliable and safest but also the most cost efficient in the industry.

There are many other reasons to choose a hydro dig for your project as well:

  • It is cleaner and more eco-friendly. The process leaves little collateral damage compared to other methods
  • You’ll get more bang for your buck with a more efficient excavation.
  • It can handle everything from sand, water, mud, and rock.
  • The process requires fewer people to operate.
  • Finally, completing a dig will not interrupt utilities.

If you would like to discuss our excavation services, please do not hesitate to Contact Us.

Daylighting Services May Help Utility Companies and Customers Save

Daylighting Services May Help Utility Companies and Customers SaveWhen utility services go down, even for only an hour, many people panic. This tends to be true whether we’re talking about HVAC related power, cable or the internet and it’s easy to understand why. People rely on those services for their businesses, entertainment, comfort and communication. So time spent without them frequently comes with a steep a price for consumers.

How steep a price? Historically, it could cost corporations thousands. Check out some of the previously recorded losses in InformationWeek magazine. It’s staggering and make no mistakes about it. Utility downtimes may be costly for service providers too, especially if disgruntled consumers take to social media with their complaints. For an indication, just take a look at coverage of outages that took place in 2015.

Utilizing daylighting services is one way to significantly limit downtime. It some cases, it may uncover damaged lines in 10 minutes or less. As such, repair crews may finish quickly, thereby reducing a variety of potential losses not to mention unfavorable media attention. And as for the cost of hiring daylighting crews, it is negligible when compared to the financial implications of the other scenarios we described.

Would you like to know how negligible? If so, please contact 4 Warriors Hydro Excavating today. We can show you firsthand how daylighting excavation improves bottom lines. Also, our family of experts is willing to answer questions about other cost-saving services that may help.

Safety When Potholing For Speed and Accuracy

Potholing For Speed and AccuracyBefore the recent holiday season, the City of El Paso closed off a major street for a little under a week for pre-construction activities. The city’s Streetcar Project called for the utility company to relocate utility services. First, the utility company had to make sure they knew where those utilities were located.

This tedious process is expedited through the use of hydro vacuum and excavation equipment. How does this work?

  • The surface layer is removed with help from a jackhammer.
  • Soil, gravel and fill are pushed free and made loose by focused water sprays.
  • The spray, gravel, soil and fill are immediately excavated with vacuum power, leaving little disruption to surrounding areas.
  • Exposed pipes are mapped with highly accurate GPS systems.
  • Since the gravel, soil and spray were vacuumed into a sealed container, it is available to readily backfill the pothole.
  • The hole is refilled and patched.

The entire process is an efficient, economical way to prep an area for construction. With little to no damage of surrounding areas, minimal ground disruption and accurate mapping there is no need to go back and repair the area. For high-traffic or congested areas, minimal disruption translates to happier clients, commuters and others who use the area.

For major projects, the quicker and more accurate the prep work the less likely the project will falter at later stages. It may be a tedious step but potholing correctly the first time around is a very important step in the process.

If you still find the idea of drilling into perfectly good surfaces simply to get a better idea of underground utility locations a frustrating step in the construction process then you should consider hydroexcavation potholing techniques.

For more information about efficient geo-location and smooth potholing for your upcoming construction project, please contact us.

Choose the Right Excavation Company

Choose the Right Excavation CompanyAs our country’s numbers continue to climb, there is an increased need to shore up existing infrastructure. In some instances, that “shoring up” may ultimately turn into expansion projects and new builds, like what’s happening in Houston, TX. For example, there are a multitude of roadways set to be widened in Fort Bend and Galveston Counties. And others are due for renovations throughout Texas. Of course before any time of shoring up or expansion can take place, there must be time for excavation services.

Houston Hydro Excavation Services

When it comes to busy thoroughfares, like the North Houston Corridor and Woodlands Parkway, tackling excavation services
use to be difficult. The impact on commuters, residents, businesses and utility companies all had to be considered carefully. Oftentimes, these various needs conflicted and unexpected problems would arise due to delays and broken utility lines. But advancements in excavation services have largely ensured that such problems remain at bay.

Cumbersome backhoes and hand-held shovels have previously been used to spot check for underground utilities. Although they are still used today, most people favor potholing and vacuum excavation services. To learn more about choosing the right excavation company for specific road widening projects, please contact us today.