Potholing involves digging a 8-12 inch diameter hole to check for underground utility lines before excavation. Rather than guessing where lines are underground based on out-of-date charts, construction contractors can be completely sure what kind of utility lines run through their site and exactly where they are in the ground by uncovering them with a small hole. This hole can be then easily backfilled when excavation is finished.

Older potholing and utility locating methods required heavy duty excavation equipment that is hard to control and increased the risk of strikes. Or, crews would have to waste time digging with shovels to find the lines they were looking for.

Nowadays, there is access to vacuum and hydrovac excavation that cuts the time of digging in half and eliminates risk of damage. Hydrovac potholing has become the favorite method most recently because it’s faster, can be used in a variety of soils, and can penetrate frozen ground.

The largest benefit of hydrovac potholing is the amount of time that can be saved per project. Hydrovac is a relatively fast process, much faster than manual digging, and can locate utilities in half the time to keep any project on schedule.

The second benefit is the lowered risk of utility line damage. Unlike traditional excavation equipment, hydrovac and air vac potholing equipment won’t damage lines while in the process of trying to locate them. This benefit also has the potential to lower the cost of a project because it eliminates the possibility of damage fees.