Potholing, sometimes called daylighting, is the process of digging a test hole to expose underground utilities. This is done to check for cracks, leaks or any kind of damage as well as plan for additional placement of underground utilities. Industrial, commercial and residential services all need to “daylight” their utilities occasionally. This is important in the maintenance of underground pipes, sewers, etc. Hydro excavation saves you labor, time and money with these types of jobs.
Traditionally, potholing or daylighting is done using a backhoe or by hand digging. A backhoe is a large and heavy piece of equipment. Since the digging bucket is large, it poses a risk of damaging the underground utilities and moves far more dirt than is necessary.
Heavy machinery also brings safety risks to nearby citizens and laborers. A malfunction in the equipment can cause accidents that can be avoided using the hydro excavation methods instead.
Hand digging is a slow and labor-intensive job and it takes too much time to get done. It is not accurate enough to remove only the necessary amount of soil. This means that backfilling would be needed after the excavation. More time and money will need to be spent because of this.
With the development of hydro excavation, however, you can eliminate nearly all of the downsides of traditional potholing and daylighting excavation methods. It provides a safe and non-mechanical process that will keep everyone involved secure. It also does a more accurate job to make sure that there will be no additional expenses.