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Air Vacuum Excavation – Benefits, Equipment and Techniques
By Dan Lukas

Where construction excavation is planned for a built up area or where utilities are known to present, it is essential in the first instance to establish the location of any buried utilities on a site. Underground pipes or cables that are not precisely located may be damaged in the course of excavation, risking costly delays, interruption to services and harm to workers.

Even once they are located and mapped, excavating underground utilities using traditional methods such as backhoes, shovels and even hand augurs can still present significant risks: damaged water mains may flood the site; severed fibre optics must be repaired at significant cost; direct contact with live power cables may result in electrocution and even death.

In an effort to overcome these hazards, and to expose buried utilities safely, cleanly and efficiently, many construction excavation companies now employ air vacuum excavation (AVE) equipment and techniques. AVE uses a combination of an air lance to loosen soil and a powerful suction pipe to remove debris and deposit it in a holding tank. Because neither component need make physical contact with buried pipes or cables, there is significantly less risk that those utilities will be damaged. And because those components are not conductive, the risk of electric shock is significantly reduced. Finally, because spoil is deposited in a sealed tank, the process is significantly cleaner and more environmentally friendly than traditional methods.

The main drawback of air vacuum excavation, particularly for smaller contractors, is the significant cost involved in purchasing and maintaining the necessary equipment. In the UK, the majority of air vacuum excavation services are maintained by utility companies, specialist construction excavators and utility location contractors.

Among the first UK operators to recognise the potential of this technology and invest in specialist AVE equipment were air vacuum excavation contractors JK Guest. Air vacuum excavation is now a core element in JK Guest’s utility mapping solutions, helping them to maintain their 100% safety record in more than 20 years of operation. This air vacuum excavation capability has helped cement JK Guest as a major provider of construction excavation and utility mapping solutions throughout Greater Manchester, the North West and beyond.

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