For smaller canals or ditches, it is sufficient to simply use a shovel and start digging, but for digging deep trenches, often necessary for installation of pipes or other projects, some special considerations should be made. Follow these basic steps to successfully and safely dig a deep trench.
Steps
Step 1. Plan your excavation
This step includes choosing the path and depth of the excavation, and deciding which tools, equipment and materials are needed. Take the time necessary for the planning and design process, so that the layout is useful for your purpose and there is no need to change the plan after starting to excavate. In this way, the materials you purchase should be sufficient to complete the excavation, and all the equipment to be located will be usefully deployed.
- Choose a path that does not damage prized plants or the appurtenances of the property. Trees, shrubs, and other plants can be damaged or die if their roots are damaged by digging. Driveways, sidewalks, and structures can collapse if you dig under.
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Determine the type of soil you will be digging into. Sandy soils, soils with loose and wet stones, muddy materials will make it difficult and dangerous to dig a straight and deep ditch, so you must provide additional measures to successfully complete your project.
- Shore. This process uses a support structure for the sides of the excavation, so that they do not give way and injure someone, or force you to restore the excavation before the project is completed. Examples may be plywood sheets with poles to support them for small excavations, or steel box for a trench or sheet piling for very large excavations.
- Eliminate the water. This will serve to remove excess water from the soil to make it stable during work. This can be achieved with a filter well system or with drainage pipes and a specific membrane pump for mud to eliminate the water that seeps into the excavation.
- Grade the excavation. This is the technique for treating loose soils illustrated in this article. When the trench is dug, it slopes down the sides to prevent the embankments from having to carry too much weight.
- Establish the depth that the equipment or function of the trench will require. Some hydraulic systems operate by gravity and require a slope, so the flow or inflow of water will occur naturally at the point of arrival. In this situation, the trench will be deeper on one end than the other.
Step 2. Find out about public utility companies, in order to identify underground gas, electrical, communications and water pipes and cables, to protect you from possible accidents or liabilities in the event that they are damaged
Step 3. Get the equipment you will use to do the excavation
Shovels, picks and other hand tools will suffice for minor digs, but renting a mini excavator can save you a lot of work on big digs. A bucket excavator and even a tramline may be needed if the project requires a very deep and / or long trench.
Step 4. Remove any vegetation you intend to save and put it back when the project is finished
Small plants, and even lawns, with proper care can be removed and stored for replanting.
Step 5. Remove the top soil layer to a depth of 10-20 cm, depending on the depth of the layer
Keep the soil away from other materials to avoid contamination. Keep the topsoil pile no more than 1-1.5m high to keep it from compacting. For the same reason, the soil heap must be delimited or located away from pedestrian or vehicular traffic. If the soil is to be stored for extended periods of time, sow non-invasive grass species to reduce erosion.
Step 6. Start excavating
Line up the workers or equipment along the dig line and start digging. Be careful to check the condition of the ground so that the embankments of the trench do not give way and collapse.
Step 7. Dig the first cut to the depth that is useful for the purpose of the trench, or if the trench is to be stepped, to the depth of the first step
If you are using a bucket excavator or excavator, dig the first trench segment to the depth the machine reaches. Make successive consolidations to the depth of each step before digging deeper, so that the banks of each step will remain stable throughout the process.
Step 8. Throw, or pile up, the excavation material (the soil removed) as far away from the excavation as possible, so that it does not clutter when installing cables and pipes or whatever you need to place in the trench
This will also prevent the removed material from creating an overload on the embankments or sides of the trench.
Step 9. Proceed to the length of the trench once each section has been dug to the required depth
Checking the depth with a mason's level or laser at critical points will ensure that the finished trench does not require maintenance work to make it usable.
Step 10. Continue digging until the entire trench is complete
Recheck the depth of the trench, check the embankments for stability, and do any smoothing or finishing of the bottom of the trench as necessary to allow for the installations for which the trench was excavated.
Step 11. Install the materials for which the trench was dug
In the examples in the photos, the trench was dug to reposition a telephone cable from an area where construction would eventually make it useless. Your trench will probably serve another purpose, such as a drainage system for a cellar, or for a sewer pipe or for a rainwater collector.
Step 12. Cover the excavation
If you have access to a gasoline compactor, use it to cram the soil you bring back into the trench. For deep trenches, cover in layers, and compact the fill material to reduce the amount of cut-off needed after the project is completed.
Step 13. Replace the topsoil layer as soon as all the earthwork has been put back in place
This will ensure fertile soil and vegetation development without having to resort to expensive fertilizers.
Step 14. Re-qualify and fix the zone after connecting any utilities you have installed
Advice
- Check the characteristics of the soil in the excavation area to understand the risks of collapsing or falling of the embankment during excavation.
- Stay hydrated, and in case of severe heat or cold, protected from the elements while working.
- Know where ducts and pipes of public utilities pass.
- Keep all the materials needed to complete the project at hand before starting.
Warnings
- Protect the trench with fences, markings or other means to prevent someone from accidentally falling.
- Do not operate heavy equipment near the sides of a trench.
- Do not allow anyone to access a trench that can collapse or collapse.
- Make sure that no trenches dug near existing buildings do not affect their foundations.
- Provide safe access routes to and from the trench. This may mean using a ladder or a sloping mound for this purpose.
- Do not excavate without locating public utility pipes and cables before starting.
- If you are excavating in the immediate vicinity of a railway or a historic point of interest, you need to have the necessary permits.
