When difficult projects come along, it can test a company — both its equipment and its crews.
Every issue of Dig Different highlights some of the toughest projects in the Down & Dirty column, but this issue is packed with stories about companies tackling challenging jobs.
Yes, every job has its own level of difficulty, but you have to admit, some simply stretch the limits.
UNDER THE BUILDING
This issue describes three jobs that took difficulty to new levels, starting with the Down & Dirty feature that highlights a hospital expansion project undertaken by Pennsylvania’s Ecotech Hydro Excavation.
Crews had to move through crawl spaces under a nine-story hospital, over 17- and 20-foot walls and excavate 3,000 cubic yards of debris. This wasn’t soft beach sand either; it was filled with rocks and pieces of concrete.
The hospital couldn’t expand up because of city restrictions, and it didn’t have room to expand laterally, so the only way to go was down. Ecotech ran into issues with the abrasive material being excavated; it would tear up hoses as it was vacuumed to the hydroexcavator. Crews had to solve that problem after finding a way to get the hose into the building — which in itself was a challenge.
It was one of the toughest jobs the company has taken on.
THROUGH MORE ROCK
Kandey Company, profiled in this issue, didn’t have to excavate under a hospital, but also had rough material to drill through. The company, based in West Seneca, New York, was hired in November 2015 to install 4-inch HDPE force main along a road in Lancaster, New York. To accomplish this, the company had to horizontally directional drill 1,800 feet.
That doesn’t sound too complicated, right? Well, consider that they had to drill through bedrock. The company bought new equipment and had to use other tools besides a drill to help get the job done.
YOUNG GUNS STEP UP
Kandey Company and Ecotech had years of experience behind them to handle their tough jobs.
Wisconsin-based Poseidon Hydro Excavation, seen in this issue’s Project Snapshot feature, was new to the scene upon landing a job at one of the state’s busiest interstate highway interchanges. The company, celebrating one year of operation in September, was hired to dig pilot holes for the pilings. The pilot holes were required because of 96-inch sewer lines running in the area.
Each hole was dug 27 feet deep to get below the sewer system.
The work was done at the interchange of interstates 41, 94 and 894. The company is still working the job today and plans to be on it for the next couple of years.
BRING IT ON
I love hearing about the tough jobs your companies have taken on and look forward to highlighting some of them in these pages. Go ahead and email me at editor@digdifferent.com about a job your company has done. You can also call me at 800/257-7222.
Let’s hear about that tough job!
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