What is the Purpose of Excavating?

An excavation is an opening in the earth's surface to reveal what lies beneath. Excavations are made for building foundation footings, landscaping, utility line installation or repair, or underground public works construction. The process of removing material from within the limits of a given structure is called back-filling the pit once it has been excavated.

Excavation can be done by hand or with powered equipment. Hand tools are usually limited to pickaxes, shovels, and buckets, though larger sites may require scaffolding for tall walls of earth. The use of power equipment facilitates the entire job faster than when using manual labor. There are several types of equipment that can be used to excavate.

Excavators, also called diggers or backhoes, are large trucks that can be outfitted with different types of equipment to suit the needs of each job. Some excavators have attachments which can do the same work as the traditional shovel, bucket and pickaxe. Other excavation equipment includes conveyors (to move dirt), scrapers (that can be towed behind excavators), and loaders (that can also do the same work as a shovel). It is often more cost-effective to rent equipment than to buy it.

Excavation work falls under the category of underground construction, which includes all types of utilities installation such as electrical, communications, signaling and BART service tunnels, gas and oil pipelines, sewers, deep foundation work for bridges and high-rise structures.

What is the purpose of backfilling?
Backfilling is placing soil over an excavation site, then compacting that soil into a level surface. It can be used to support slopes or reshape land contours. Compacting the soil also means it will develop better support for future structures that may be built on top of it.

Having excavated the soil to remove the walls, workers backfill the dirt within the excavation site by hand or with equipment. Once all of the material is replaced and compressed into a level surface, it is ready for development. If any erosion has occurred, measures should be taken to make the surface more stable. This may include replacing soil or planting native plants (soil erosion controls) on top of it. Check with local ordinances before doing any work to make sure you are in compliance with all codes and permits.

If you are looking for Residential or Commercial Excavating of any kind, make sure you search for a local and reliable contractor!


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