On site in Sydney and across NSW
What to expect.
Non-destructive excavation, also called vacuum excavation or potholing, exposes a service without a bucket ever touching it. A high-pressure water lance or air lance loosens the ground and a vacuum hose lifts the spoil into the truck, leaving a clean hole with the pipe or cable sitting undamaged at the bottom. It is the only method AS 5488-2022 accepts for QL-A, and it is what Sydney Water, Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Jemena expect before mechanical excavation near their assets.
The pothole is where a locate becomes proof. The exposed service is photographed, measured for depth to top and invert, surveyed in on GDA2020 and recorded with its material and size. Where a design has to thread a new pipe or pile between existing services, a line of potholes along the alignment removes the guesswork and the variation claims that follow a strike.
The same trucks handle slot trenching for cable and conduit installation, pit and pole base cleaning, and emergency exposure of a damaged service at night. Spoil can be returned to the hole and compacted, or taken away; footpath and road surfaces are reinstated to the asset owner's standard. Traffic control and permits for Transport for NSW roads are arranged as part of the job.
