The Power of Pressurized Air: Pneumatic Vacuum Excavation
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The Power of Pressurized Air: Pneumatic Vacuum Excavation

Your leaf blower at home operates on a simple principle: air, when pushed by a force, can move material objects (like leaves) where you want them to go. The higher the pressure and more concentrated that air is, the more powerful it is. Around the house, you probably don’t have a need for anything stronger than a leaf blower, but our technicians use high-pressure pneumatic power to solve some of our clients’ most troublesome excavation problems. 

An Advantageous Alternative to Hydro-Vacuum Excavation

Pneumatic-assist vacuum excavation is similar to hydro-excavation, which uses pressurized water to dislodge soil. But sometimes that pressurized water can cause problems of its own, if electrical lines with damaged insulation are present or if introducing water to the terrain can create an erosion risk. A pneumatic application doesn’t introduce any water at all, so the soil stays dry and easy to move once it’s been broken loose.Plus,the soil can be reused immediately for back fill upon demand. In addition, there’s no danger of shorting out if inferior insulated power lines are encountered underground. Another benefit is that the dry trench or excavated area is immediately ready to install forms or pour concrete.Also, since the soil can be “stepped down” without cave-in, sloping can help avoid or minimize shoring.

Minimizing Excavation Activity

 The other part of this unique application—the “vacuum” part—allows our teams to remotely dig in areas where piling up mounds of soil simply isn’t an option. As our pneumatic excavation tools break up the soil with precise focus, our vacuum equipment removes the soil for transport off site, or positions it elsewhere in preparation for replacing at the end of the excavation job. This keeps the entire site clean, avoids slop and mud,and minimizes the effect of disrupting work in the surrounding work area. Make Water and Air Work for You We would love to discuss how our hydro and pneumatic vacuum excavation services can benefit your facility. These applications are ideal for excavation jobs in high risk areas and can drastically reduce the prep time, hazards, and cleanup requirements for excavation tasks.

 

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