Potholing with hydro-excavation

Guesswork ends at the test hole.

Water cuts through the soil. Vacuum pulls it into the tank. Utility lines remain undamaged. You can see size, depth, and material of buried utilities. Potholing, or daylighting, is the field portion of Quality Level A sub-surface utility engineering (SUE) work.

We have extensive experience providing plan-and-profile support for design, engineering, and survey firms. We also work with general contractors when utilities need to be found during the construction process. The non-destructive nature of our equipment is also useful for precision excavating in sensitive or hard to reach areas.

How we work

Permits and people

We coordinate access, permits, and traffic control with the customer, property owner, and municipality so the work gets done the right way.

Core, expose, restore

Core first when there is pavement. Then expose the line, document what we find, backfill, clean and restore, and mark the find.

Locating is how we hunt

We electronically locate to improve our potholing, not as a paid separate service. It is how we find what we are going to pothole and troubleshoot when issues come up.

Additional equipment when needed

When we need to go deeper or the trench is heavier than our towed gear can handle, we can bring additional equipment to finish the job.

Process in the field

From 811 through marking — how a CUF pothole typically runs.

811 ticket called in

We run the 811 process. Utility owners locate their utilities so the area is marked before we dig.
CUF locating

We use surface indicators, utility locates, and electronic locating to confirm 811 locates and narrow the target.
Coring

When there is pavement, we core first so the surface opens clean and the hydrovac can go to work.
Potholing / exposing

Pressurized water and vacuum expose the utility without damaging it. That is daylighting — you can see the line.
Troubleshooting

When the line is not where marks say, we keep hunting — electronic locate and field judgment to improve chances of finding it.
Documenting

We record what we found in the hole — depth, size and material— so the field data is captured while the utility is still visible.
Backfilling

Once the hole is documented, we backfill so the site is safe and ready for cleaning and restoration.
Cleaning and restoring

We clean up the work area and restore the surface so the site is fully functional afterwards and does not leave a mess for the public.
Marking

We mark what was found so survey or excavators can identify the utility — paint on hard surfaces, and labeled PVC sticks with notes in soft surface.