Excavation in Cedar

Does Cedar's ground dig differently?

Yes — expect clay or till over interbedded rock. It slows the dig and changes how we shore a trench, so we account for it in the quote.

How do we decide between sloping, benching and shoring?

Once a trench passes 1.2 metres and someone has to get into it, the sides have to be made safe — and there are four ways to do that. We can slope the walls back to a stable angle, bench them in steps, drop in a trench box or shoring cage, or have the whole thing engineered. Which one we use comes down to room, soil and depth, and we work that out before the machine arrives.

Sloping is the simplest, and we use it when there is room around the cut. It costs nothing in equipment but it takes up width: the deeper you go, the wider the top of the hole gets, so there is more material out and more to put back. Benching does the same job in steps and works better in firm ground that will hold a face.

A trench box costs more to bring in, but it keeps the hole narrow, so we use it when the cut runs close to a building, a driveway or a fence line. It also lets us work deep without opening up half the property.

Where the soil is loose, saturated or has already been dug over once, we don't make the call ourselves. We get an engineer out, and they draw up how we build the protection and how far apart to set it.

What does excavation cost in Cedar?

The machine rate in Cedar is the district rate, so what changes your price here is the hours and the disposal. Clay and till cut slower than sand, and a trench past 1.2 metres that someone has to enter needs a box or benching, which adds setup time before the digging even starts. Our cost guide sets out the machine and disposal rates we quote from.