Best hydro excavation companies

Hydro excavation companies utilize trucks that hold a vacuum source, water tank, water system, host, boom, and debris tank. They’re designed to move soil with high-pressured water while simultaneously vacuuming it into the storage container. 

This technology has become one of the quickest and safest ways to dig. We’ll explore the best hydro excavation companies to work for and more details on this emerging technology. 

Quicklook: Best Hydro Excavation Companies 

• Redi
• Clean Harbors
• National Hydro-Excavation Services
• Performance Contracting, Inc.
• Vector Services
• SoftDig

6 Best Hydro Excavation Companies 

Below you’ll find a few of the best paying hydro excavation companies and the specialized services that they provide. 

Redi

Redi is a company that operates across numerous states all over the U.S. The company provides general construction services, plant and facility maintenance, and other support services. 

Hydrovac excavation is one of the many services they offer as it has become the preferred method to dig around electrical systems, exposed utilities, and areas where excavation equipment could otherwise cause damage. With their precision equipment, they can remove the specific soil you want to move in a safe worksite. 

Established: 1982

Location: Lyman, Wyoming

Sustainability: 

• Very sustainable
• Focused on keeping processes local 

Selling Equipment: No

Services Provided: 

• Hydro excavation
• Dry ice blasting
• Scaffolding
• Trucking
• Concrete
• Electrical
• Tank cleaning
• Construction
• And more!

Types of Hydro Excavation:

• Potholing or daylighting
• Slot trenching
• Tank cleaning
• Trench shoring
• Pipeline cleaning

Revenue: $102.5 million

Clean Harbors

Clean Harbors provides on-site environmental and industrial services to help solve problems thanks to their innovative technologies. They have a diverse array of vehicles that can provide various hydro excavation needs. As a leader in the industry, Clean Harbors focuses on safety and efficiency in order to resolve excavation challenges. 

Established: 1980

Location: Norwell, Massachusetts

Selling Equipment: No

Services Provided: 

• Waste disposal and recycling
• Chemical packing
• Field services
• Daylight and hydro excavating
• Seismic services
• And more

Types of Hydro Excavation: 

• Hydro excavation or hydrovac
• Potholing
• Daylighting
• Pier holing
• Bell holes
• Trench boxes and shoring boxes
• Ditching and trenching
• Rig cleaning
• Tank cleaning
• Spill cleanup

Revenue: $3.81 billion

National Hydro-Excavation Services

While National Hydro-Excavation Services might be a newer company, they focus 100% of their efforts on providing hydro-excavation services. With this intense focus on such a niche service, National Hydro-Excavation Services provides top-of-the-line crews that focus on safety and precision to ensure each job is done correctly. 

Established: 2018

Location: Blair, Nebraska

Selling Equipment: No

Services Provided: 

• Hydro excavating
• Jetting
• Industrial vacuum
• Emergency services

Types of Hydro Excavation: 

• Trenching
• Potholing
• Pole holes
• Pipe tie-ins
• Pipeline crossings

Revenue: $1.15 million

Performance Contracting, Inc.

Performance Contracting, Inc., is one of the leading specialty contractors when it comes to hydro excavation services in the United States. The company offers services and products for both industrial and commercial markets. 

Part of their services is that of hydro excavation. Performance Contracting, Inc., utilizes state-of-the-art equipment that allows them to tackle projects of all complexities. Plus, with nationwide coverage, the company can help you no matter where you’re located. 

Established: 1987

Location: Lenexa, Kansas

Selling Equipment: No

Services Provided: 

• Abatement
• Cleanrooms
• Metal fabrication
• Hydro excavating
• Glazing services
• Acoustical ceilings
• Demolition services
• And more! 

Types of Hydro Excavation: 

• Potholing
• Trenching
• Tunneling
• Hydro-blasting
• Industrial vacuum services
• Line locating and designating
• Subsurface utility engineering
• Air-knife excavation
• Tank cleaning
• Civil construction

Revenue: $4 billion

Vector Services

Vector Services is an energy infrastructure service provider that offers construction and engineering support. They supply the equipment, crews, and experience necessary to preserve the nation’s energy infrastructure. 

Their environmentally-friendly hydro excavation services require less manpower than other options on this list. However, they also offer exceptional methods of excavation for landscaping, construction, and plumbing projects. 

Established: 2017

Location: Batavia, Illinois

Selling Equipment: No

Services Provided: 

• Traffic control
• Hydro excavation
• Sewer camera inspection
• Workforce solutions

Types of Hydro Excavation: 

• Hydro-excavation
• Air-excavation
• Substation construction
• Splice pits
• Remote dig capabilities 
• Deep hole capabilities 
• Environmental cleanup
• Coring capabilities up to 24”
• Daylighting
• Hdd slurry transportation disposal
• Utility pole holes
• Slot trenching
• Service pits
• Trenching
• Debris removal
• Anode installations
• Shoring installations
• Pipeline crossing
• Pipeline tie-Ins
• Tank cleanouts
• Emergency response

Revenue: Just under $5 million

SoftDig

SoftDig provides commercial, institutional, industrial, and government markets with a variety of services to help design and build safely and confidently. When it comes to vacuum excavation, SoftDig was one of the first companies to enter the scene, with one of their founders designing one of the very first hydro excavation trucks. Today, they continue to utilize these minimally-invasive excavation services to help bore holes, trench around structures or utilities, and assist in other construction-related projects. 

Established: 1987

Location: West Chester, Pennsylvania

Selling Equipment: No

Services Provided: 

• Utility mapping
• Concrete scanning
• Ground-penetrating radar
• Private utility locating
• Subsurface utility engineering
• Vacuum excavation
• CCTV pipe inspection

Types of Hydro Excavation: 

• Straight line
• Exploratory
• Pre-design
• Cross
• Slot
• Box

Revenue: $3 million

What Is Hydro Vacuum Excavation?

Hydro vacuum excavation is a process that moves and removes soil with the help of pressurized water. It utilizes a specialty truck that takes the dispersed soil and transfers it via a vacuum to a debris tank. 

It’s a more accurate way to excavate soil, and because of its efficient and accurate results, it’s very environmentally-friendly. This excavation method avoids damage to underground utilities and pipes in addition to providing better safety control overall. 

What Do Hydro Vacuum Excavation Companies Do?

Hydro excavation companies have numerous jobs they can complete. This includes everything from daylighting—or digging to locate and expose underground utilities—and soil trenching to pipeline excavating and cold-weather digging. 

They have become an efficient and safe way to avoid damages caused by digging. In fact, 75% of damages within the utility industry is from shovel strikes, which hydro excavation helps to mitigate! This is a great career option. Many of the companies above are the best hydro excavation companies for new drivers.

What Is the Average Salary?

The salary of a hydro vacuum excavation technician depends on the company, years of experience, and geographic location. Within the United States, some have seen a pay ranging from $36,500 up to $96,000. 

Is It Environmentally-Conscious?

Hydro excavation is the most environmentally friendly way to dig. The process uses no toxic substances, which means there are no chemicals entering the soil. Additionally, its equipment does not emit pollution and reduces fire risks. All around, hydro excavation is a great tool to keep the planet safe while still being able to complete digging projects. 

Types of Hydro Excavation Jobs

As we saw in the companies above, there are numerous types of jobs that can utilize hydro excavation. Below you’ll find some of the most common. 

For Plumbing

Plumbing contractors utilize hydro excavation to help with numerous tasks. Everything from utility location, catch-basin cleaning, pre-construction surveys, and more. 

For Installation

There are many instances when line, pole, pipe and sewer, and signs need to be installed. When utilizing hydro excavation, not only do these jobs become more efficient and safer, they also allow for less traffic and congestion, making the surrounding area less disrupted by the installation process. 

For Construction

Hydro excavation can also be used in a variety of construction applications. From repairs to rehabilitation, worksite construction to inspections, there are hydro excavation tools that can do it all. 

Advantages of Using a Hydro Excavation Truck 

There are various benefits to a hydro excavation truck, including the following.  

More Efficient 

A hydro excavation truck is highly efficient. Those digging trucks can move quite a bit of soil in a short period of time, and a construction crew doesn’t need to worry about having a separate dump truck on site to haul the soil away. 

More Accurate

The pressurized water system a hydro vac truck uses is incredibly accurate. This level of precision allows the truck to be used in high-risk places, such as excavating the ground near a gas line. 

Safety

Safety is also another major benefit of a hydro vac truck. Considering how easy it is to ram your shovel into a utility line, or dig through and rupture a pipe, it’s no secret why excavation companies want to do all they can to avoid these workplace accidents. With a hydro vac truck, these accidents can be complexly avoided due to the excavation method they use. 

More Profitable 

A company can drive more profit when the efficiency levels increase and accidents or damages decrease, which is why hydro excavation trucks have the potential to provide an excellent return on investment. 

Disadvantages of Using a Hydro Excavation Truck 

Although hydro excavation trucks have plenty of advantages, there are still some disadvantages that need to be taken into consideration. Such disadvantages include the following! 

Water Supply

For a hydro excavation truck to work, it needs water. You will either need easy access to refill the tank or have a water truck on the job site to avoid any down time. Nonetheless, this is an additional level of complexity that needs to be factored in. 

Disposing of the Dirty Water

The dirty water also needs to be disposed of because this water cannot just be left on the job site and often needs to go to a specific dumping location for environmental reasons. Although dumping occurs with any excavation job, specific dumping measures are in place for hydro excavators. 

Dumping Fees

Those specific dumping measures cost money, and that cost can be above and beyond a typical dumping charge. This must be factored into the cost to complete the excavation job as you will not want to price yourself too low. 

Operate in Small Spaces

Hydro excavation trucks need a lot of room to operate, which makes operating in small places challenging or impossible. Depending on the space constraints a job may have, these trucks may not be an option. 

The Safest Way To Dig

Hydro excavation provides technology that is more accurate and safer than other excavation methods. Additionally, it is less destructive to the environment while preserving the underground structure. There are numerous companies that utilize this environmentally-friendly excavation process for industries including landscaping, construction, plumbing and more. 

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