Vacuum Digging has an array of many safety benefits over the more traditional digging practices when working with underground cables.
Safe Digging
When a construction site has underground cables that need to be exposed for maintenance or upgrades, Vacuum Digging is quickly becoming the more preferred option for safety. The no-dig approach has proven to be the smartest and safest method of uncovering services with low risk to everyone on-site.
The soft excavation technique allows for the services to be identified and managed optimally without the need to make any contact with them. The lack of manual handling reduces the risk of injury, better health to the operatives which is paramount above all.
Why opt for Vacuum Digging?
- Vacuum Excavation provides a safer option for when underground cables need to be exposed.
- Often, hand digging causes a great deal of risk such as personal injuries, can occur if cables are struck. There are up to 60,000 service strikes each year (Ref: Clyde & Co) with an average cost of £7,000 per strike (Ref: USAG).
- Mechanical equipment, whilst it is safer for the operator, can damage buried assets resulting in costly repairs that have not been factored into the project budge or timescale.
- Increases in cost (if other methods result in complications), mean that Vacuum Excavation is not only safe and smart, but it is also highly economical.
- PIER (UK) operatives are competent, qualified workers who use equipment and machinery with great emphasis on both efficiency and safety measures.
- The area of excavation on certain sites is reduced by precise excavation, which leaves less site spoil that would need to be recycled, making it more environmentally beneficial.
- Excavated spoil is stored in the internal skips that are built into the Vacuum Excavators. These enable the site and surrounding area to be free of any hazards for operatives or the public and also results in easier dumping and filling in.
How does a Vacuum Excavation work?
The Vacuum Excavator’s remote-control boom uses suction power and air to pull away the ground material, by lifting it up and pulling the ground into the machine. The excavated machine is drawn through the machine where it is stored to safely offload later on-site. Air is ‘cleaned’ inside the machine by passing through 42 air filters, before it is released back out of the machine and into the air outside.
The Vacuum Excavator can store up to 8m3 of excavated material, often meaning the work can be completed without having to stop and offload.
As the industry leaders in Vacuum Excavation, PIER (UK) will listen carefully to their customers’ requirements and provide a solution that is suitable for the job at hand.
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