What is Potholing? The Contractor’s Guide

Potholing is a technique used by utility locating contractors to find what lies beneath the surface of the earth.

Utility locating is not as simple as it may seem; there are many different types of utilities that can be found, including electric and gas lines, water pipes, and communications cables.

It takes training and experience to know what methods work best for each type of utility. In this article, we will discuss what is potholing and what you need to do in order to locate those pesky underground utilities.

What is Potholing?

Let’s start by talking about what potholing is.

Potholing refers to the act of digging or boring through dirt in order to expose what lies beneath it so that you can then collect data on what you’ve discovered, locate underground utilities, and share this information with your client or employer.

This method was first used back in 1818 when workers had to dig up roads for maintenance purposes. Over time these individuals realized there could be other uses for their newly acquired skills besides roadwork.

Why is Potholing Important?

In order to determine what type of utility locating method would work best for a job, you need first to know what lies beneath.

While it may be easy enough to find out what utilities are running through your street or neighborhood by going door-to-door and asking people who live there if they have any knowledge about what’s buried underground, this isn’t always an option.

To begin, many homeowners aren’t usually willing to share that information with strangers. Another reason why potholing is important is that it can help reduce costs from unnecessary digging which results in fewer delays during your project timeline.

Common Potholing Methods

There are many ways contractors use potholing to find a utility location. Below are some of the most common potholing methods.

Hand Digging:

This is exactly is what it sounds like, which is a person digging with their hands or a hand shovel. As you can imagine, this method of potholing leaves quite the mess and takes longer than other methods as well.

Shovel Testing:

This technique involves using a metal probe to poke through the ground until it contacts something solid that may be man-made in nature such as plastic or iron.

While much faster than hand digging, it’s difficult to know what type of utility you’ve discovered without further investigation which requires more time and effort on your part.

Trenchless Methods:

These are considered better options because they require less manpower, resulting in lower costs for your project timeline overall since there won’t be any delays due to waiting hours for utility locating to begin.

For example, what is potholing can involve using an electronic probe that works by sending out a signal through the ground and receiving data on what it finds in return.

This also means you won’t have to worry about hitting any utilities while digging since all of your work will be done from one spot without having to move around dirt or other materials that need to get removed for excavation purposes.

Backhoes:

This is what’s involved with what is potholing if you happen to be working on a construction project that requires digging up the ground.

A backhoe usually has three types of buckets which include short, medium, and large sizes so it can adapt to different projects without having to waste time or money by buying new equipment for every job.

There are several other potholing methods used in utility locating today but these four should give you an idea as to what could be required depending on your work situation at hand.

Vacuum Excavation:

Vacuum excavation involves using a machine to suck up dirt and debris while the utility location equipment digs beneath it.

It’s not recommended for use in urban areas because there isn’t enough room to maneuver such large pieces of machinery.

However, this can only be effective when working on smaller jobs that require digging up only one area instead of an entire street or neighborhood.

Hydro Excavation:

This what is potholing method involves using an excavation machine that shoots out high-pressure water to dig through dirt and rock.

It’s often used in conjunction with vacuum excavation, especially when digging up the ground underneath concrete sidewalks or roads where it might be too difficult otherwise.

Main Benefits of Potholing

If you’re convinced that potholing is the best route for your construction project, you’ll be pleased to know there are many benefits to this technique. These benefits include:

Available Information and Insight:

When you search for utility locations, you’ll be able to know exactly what kind of utility runs through the area where your project will take place which can help reduce costs and make certain everything goes smoothly when it comes time to begin tearing up the ground.

Typically this means less digging overall since there won’t be any unknowns or surprises that weren’t discovered before beginning work on a project site.

This also means faster progress if all utilities are located upfront so excavation efforts can begin right away instead of waiting hours for locating equipment to get started once they arrive at the job site.

You Can Mitigate Construction Site Hazards:

In addition, potholing can be used to reduce the chances of injuries on a construction site.

This means you’ll have fewer workers take time off from their jobs due to accidents while digging or excavating materials.

It also helps avoid possible lawsuits in case something goes wrong with your equipment and someone gets injured.

You Can Reduce Project Delays:

The last benefit to what is potholing involves minimizing the chances of delays.

This means you can have a construction project completed faster even if it’s done in stages without having to close down any roads or sidewalks for an extended period of time.

It also helps reduce costs overall since there won’t be money wasted due to additional hours that need to go into completing a job site which would’ve happened otherwise with other methods being used instead.

Want to Learn More About Potholing?

Now that you know what is potholing, are you willing to learn more about the process? If so, continue reading our blog for more helpful articles.