Install Service cables & Drainage with minimum disruption
There can be many reasons for trench excavation, whether it is because you are introducing a drainage system or needing to run electrical services from one location to another.
It might be that a drainage system may be damaged and trench excavation needed to expose existing services. The most obvious reason for excavating a trench is for footing foundations.
Whatever reason you may have to excavate a trench you should generally always follow the same procedure.
Firstly, you should always start by checking for underground services with a CAT scanner and reviewing plans of the area. If the existing surfaces hard i.e. tarmac or concrete it should firstly be cut approximately 500mm wide to make for neat edges when excavating and subsequently not disturbing other areas to the existing surface.
The Trenchwork Process
Once cut, you may need to use a pecker or a breaker to break through the hard surface. When it has been broken up into loose bits you can then start to excavate the sub base and begin to trench out. This can be done with an excavator at a size appropriate, using a trenching bucket.
Trenches exceeding a meter in depth should always be shuttered and made safe for people working in
the trench. All services that are exposed should be done so with care and usually it is thought that hand digging is a more appropriate method at this point.
After the trench is excavated to the depth specified and made safe the necessary installation can commence before being reinstated, usually done in layers using hard core material, compacting each layer individually using a trench whacker and finishing off with resurfacing to match in to the existing surface.
