The National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) has declared June 2021 as “Trench Safety Month”. This is the second year of Trench Safety Month which NUCA devoted to getting the message out about the importance of employee safety when working underground or in and around trenches. The designation of Trench Safety Month further highlights NUCA’s “Trench […]
Test Equipment & Methods for Evaluating Soil Type in Excavation/Trenching
Many kinds of equipment and methods are used to determine the type of soil prevailing in an area, as described below (from OSHA). Pocket Penetrometer Penetrometers are direct-reading, spring-operated instruments used to determine the unconfined compressive strength of saturated cohesive soils. Once pushed into the soil, an indicator sleeve displays the reading. The instrument is […]
Excavation Spoils: Temporary Spoil vs. Permanent Spoil Safety
Spoil piles are excavated materials consisting of topsoil or subsoils that have been removed and temporarily stored during the construction activity. [Source] Spoil piles are also sometimes referred to as Soil Piles, Stock Piles, or Storage Piles. There are generally two types of excavation spoil: Temporary Spoil Permanent Spoil The differences are pretty straightforward, but […]
What is Sitework in Construction?
Sitework generally refers to the preliminary work to prepare a construction site. Sitework on a construction site can typically include any of the following: Land clearing Grading Excavation Demolition Clearing spoils Aggregate Compaction Creating grassy areas and berms Ron Meyer & Associates Excavating offers a variety of earthwork & excavation services, including sitework, throughout Ottawa […]
What is Shielding in Excavation & Trenching?
Shielding protects workers by using trench boxes or other types of supports to prevent soil cave-ins. Designing a protective system can be complex because you must consider many factors: soil classification, depth of cut, water content of soil, changes caused by weather or climate, surcharge loads (e.g., spoil, other materials to be used in the […]
What is Benching in Excavation?
Benching means a method of protecting workers from cave-ins by excavating the sides of an excavation to form one or a series of horizontal levels or steps, usually with vertical or near vertical surfaces between levels. Benching cannot be done in Type C soil Other types of excavation protective systems include sloping, shoring, and shielding. […]