Vacuum Excavation: Choosing the Right Equipment

Non destructive digging is quickly taking the place of conventional methods of digging due to the safety and efficiency issues of the latter. This new and safe method of digging is carried out by the use of vacuum excavation, where either air or water is used to break up the soil and then the spoils is vacuumed and held in a container for later disposal or backfilling. Vacuum excavators come in varying sizes that can cater to any project size. They are available in huge trucks that are great for huge drilling and excavation projects and small trailer trucks that can easily be manoeuvred in areas with tight spaces.

The reason for the vacuum excavators’ expanding demand in the market is its versatility. Any civil contractor company would love to purchase equipment that will give them a good run for their money, especially one that can perform multiple functions as efficiently as their counterpart independent equipment would. So far, the best benefit that vacuum excavators bring is the safety in underground assets, as well as that of other above ground assets and civil contractors who are working on the site.  However, despite various safe-digging regulations and suggestions, there are still contractors who prefer using conventional and hand digging means due to their hesitation and lack of informed choice in the use of vacuum excavators.

Air or Water?

The selection and preference between air vacuum excavators and hydro excavators is a hot, ongoing debate among civil contractors and manufacturers alike. Although most manufacturers endorse both options, their own advantages and disadvantages dictate the choice among contractors.

For one, hydro excavators are great for water acts as its own lubricant, and that they are able to control static electricity, avoid the sandblasting effect of air, and can work well on any type of soil, including frozen ground. On the other hand, air vacuum excavators are favoured due to air’s compressibility, allowing air to be gentler than water when it hits underground assets during excavation. It also proves to be more productive and economical choice on a long term basis.

Fan or Positive Displacement (PD) Blower?

If a contractor opts for an air vacuum excavator, he will have to choose between a fan or positive displacement blower system, which are the two of the most sought after systems. The fan system moves an incredible amount of air, thereby speeding up the completion of excavation. In addition to that, it is also easier to operate, maintain, and is more economical than a PD blower system. On the other hand, the PD blower is hailed for its ability to move air over longer distances, which makes it suitable for excavation at great depths.

Truck or Trailer Unit?

When choosing between a truck or a trailer, the digging depth should be determined and the amount of horsepower of the equipment should be checked as it will determine the capacity of spoils it can hold.

When choosing an excavator for non destructive digging, one should match the right equipment to the right digging volume, soil conditions, and application type. This will help determine if you should use air or hydro excavator, fan or PD blower, and truck or trailer unit.

Yunz Contracting is a level 1 asp certified civil contractor company that provides non destructive digging services. If you want to find out how non destructive digging can be of great advantage for your next project, visit our website at  for more information.

Understanding the Traffic Congestion in Our Cities

There is no stopping progress in our cities even if it occurs at the expense of our health, our peace of mind and even our sanity. Signs of increasing urbanisation are evident in many of our cities and towns, and urbanisation is expanding across the continent. This indeed carries certain facts: Traffic congestion is getting worst, and that Australia is running on gas and wheels (in other words, our country is becoming heavily dependent on automobiles).

As our country is on the brink of a traffic management crisis, we the people are already paying high price for urbanisation and the worsening traffic conditions is the result of this urbanisation. Towns become cities and sub-urban areas become urban centres because of the flow of immigration from the towns to the cities, from rural areas to urban centres. This is a scenario to expect as a significant percentage of our wealth and opportunities are concentrated in highly urbanised locations. There are two commons effects, each relating to the other: Increase of transportation demands and increase of vehicle use in these areas.

Civil works contractors are tasked to create more networks of roads (giving more chance for expansion of urban areas), which did little to alleviate traffic congestion because the economy is booming. The bustling economy is encouraging people to validate their economic success or cement their financial status on automobiles. If the cities can implement restrictions on water usage, why cannot it do so on vehicle usage? This is an economic matter too.

Just image the effects of traffic congestion to our economy. Traffic delays cost our economy millions of dollars in lost manpower hours and billions of dollars lost in wasted fuel and time annually. Businesses depends on the timely execution of its operations and services and such delays can hurt them, adding meaning to the axiom, “time is gold.”

One should not proceed to say high trafficked areas have a bustling economy as compared to areas with low traffic. Excuse me, but this is not the case. One has to understand that much of our wealth and development are concentrated in areas where there are more people (as if people go where the money is). Many countries tend to put more emphasis in their cities’ growth than in the development of rural areas.

And it is in these high trafficked areas where people find the money. It is there where they pursue opportunities which is absent from where they come from. Say, they pursue opportunities in limited spaces. Over time, some of those people will own automobiles, and they will be taking the streets. The atmosphere in urban areas creates the demand for transportation, one should know that.

With the construction of high rise buildings in the cities, can’t we think that despite the presence of many building with underground parking spaces, many vehicle owners will still park their vehicles on the streets illegally because they refuse to pay parking fees?

Our traffic control companies Sydney are in for a difficult task ahead.

Yunz Contraction is one of the best traffic control companies Sydney that provides excellent traffic management services. Please contact us today for service and visit our website  for more details.

Ensuring Excavation Safety: Knowing and Preventing the Hazards

Every construction site is a potential danger zone, and every level 1 civil contractor should know that safety (and not only excellent work quality) starts at the bottom. One particular construction work that contractors and workers must be careful about is trenching and excavation works. This is for that reason why safety should always begin at the bottom.

Excavation and trenching works are just the starting phase of any construction work for without foundations in deep ground, how can huge edifices or structures stand out? This is clear (and perhaps a present danger) that there should be digging operations before the building and installation stages should take place. Because digging up huge amounts of soil from the ground can be very hazardous, this calls for close supervision and strict implementation of safety rules and regulations.

What are the possible hazards that can take place from a poorly supervised trenching and excavation works? There are plenty, and among the most common are:

• Asphyxiation due to the lack of adequate oxygen
• Inhalation of smoke or toxic materials
• Collapse of the trench due to heavy loads (including excavated soil and huge machinery) near the edge (cave-in)
• Falling of objects which include equipment and excavated soil, rocks or any debris
• Flooding due to damages on the underground water or sewage pipelines
• Electrocution  due to damages on the buried electrical wires or telecommunication cables
• Fire
• Death from all of the above

How can contractors ensure safety in trenching and excavations? To prevent the aforementioned hazards from occurring at the worksite, contractors should see to it that:

• Workers should build a well-designed protective system that can resist the collapse of the trenches or excavations. Trenches and excavations should have an adequately designed sloping and benching, support, shield and other protective systems to prevent cave-ins. Moreover, all excavations should have adequate fencing and warning signs.
• Workers should know how to handle materials and equipment appropriately. They should avoid parking their equipment or disposing excavated debris very close to the edge of a trench. They should park or dispose them respectively distances away to prevent objects falling into the trench.
• Workers not wearing the appropriate safety gear should not be allowed to do trenching and excavations works and even all types of construction works.
• Only competent and qualified person should be allowed to work at the trenches and excavations and to handle earth-moving equipment.
• Adequate alarming systems should be installed at the site to signal any cases of emergency.
• Contractors should look into new methods of non-destructive digging.

Excavations are fraught with various occupational hazards especially if workers do not apply non-destructive digging methods. The trench or excavation can be a possible gravesite for workers who could be exposed to various dangers surrounding workplace. Yes, more than ‘six feet below the ground’ indeed, so no surprise why excavation and trenching are among the top six construction site hazards listed by Health and Safety Risk Management. Trenching safety is the responsibility of both contractors and workers.

Are you looking for non destructive digging contractors to handle your construction projects? Yunz Contracting is a level 1 ASP that specialises on all types and kinds of electrical and civil construction contracting jobs. Please contact us today so we can discuss your project. Please visit our website.