Red Deer hydrovac / Daylighting
Daylighting and hydro excavation in Red Deer
Before you dig near a buried gas line, power cable or fibre, expose it. A hydrovac truck does it with water and vacuum, without hitting the line.
- Exact depth and position of the line before you excavate
- Works in clay and frozen ground
- One local operator contacts you
Get a daylighting quote
Takes about two minutes. One local hydrovac operator will contact you.
The method
How daylighting works
- Locates are requested through Click Before You Dig and the lines are marked.
- The truck uses pressurized water to loosen the soil above the mark.
- A vacuum boom lifts the soil and water into the truck’s tank.
- The line is exposed so you can see and measure it.
- The slurry is hauled away to an approved disposal site, and the hole is backfilled or left open for your crew.
When it’s used
- Before boring, trenching or piling near existing utilities
- Crossing a pipeline right-of-way
- Confirming depth for design or as-built drawings
- Finding a service line before a repair
- Installing posts or piles next to buried cables
Questions
Daylighting questions
What’s the difference between daylighting and potholing?
They mean the same thing in practice: digging a small hole to expose a buried line. Potholing is the usual term for a single test hole.
Is daylighting required in Alberta?
Ground disturbance rules require buried facilities in the work area to be exposed by hand or a non-mechanical method before using mechanical equipment close to them. Hydrovac is the common way to do that. The facility owner may set its own rules too.
How long does daylighting take?
A single shallow pothole in soft ground can take well under an hour. Depth, clay, frost and the number of holes change that. Give the operator the details for a time estimate.
Need lines exposed before you dig?
Send the job details and a local operator will be in touch.