How vacuum excavation can significantly reduce reinstatement costs

An integral part of any excavation project is restoring the site back to its original condition after works are complete, costs for this can be significant if the work isn’t carried out in the most efficient way. Vacuum excavation can often reduce these reinstatement costs for a variety of reasons – keep on reading to find out what they are!

What are “reinstatement costs” for excavation work?

When excavation work is carried out, the process involves moving and removing soil and rock from the ground. When the excavation is complete, the site must be restored to its original condition. “Reinstatement costs” refer to the estimated cost associated with carrying out this restoration and include replacing spoil, topsoil and landscaping. This cost bears the cost of labor, materials, fleet and necessary permits to complete the restoration process. Significant additional costs can occur and spiral if infrastructure is damaged, adding legal and other unforeseen costs into the project.

How important are reinstatement costs?

Reinstatement costs should be taken extremely seriously and proper planning and forecasting should be in place to ensure adequate insurance and sufficient funds are available to rebuild or repair any disturbed areas after excavation is complete. Failure to do so can lead to significant financial burdens if damage occurs during the excavation process.

How can vacuum excavation reduce these costs?

Due to the non-invasive and less labour intensive nature of vacuum excavation making excavation outcomes more predictable, reinstatement costs can be accounted for in the planning stage much more accurately. Here are some of the most compelling reasons how vacuum excavation can reduce these costs:

Precise excavation

When it comes to removing the ground, the suction mechanism vacuum excavation uses offers incredibly precise control over the excavation area. This means that the operators only have to remove the necessary soil, reducing the size of the hole required for the project. This is a huge benefit as it massively reduces the amount of spoil that either needs to be stored or removed from site.

Reduced surface disruption

This is a big advantage that vacuum excavation offers over more traditional digging methods. By digging smaller holes, the size of the surface area that needs to be reinstated is reduced, lowering overall reinstatement costs. This can be particularly useful when excavation takes place for highways and the rail sector or in environmentally sensitive areas where it’s imperative to preserve existing vegetation or topsoil. The accuracy of vacuum excavation ensures that only the necessary soil is removed during excavation making it ideal for these situations.

Less material removal

The combination of smaller holes and less surface disruption means that less soil is removed so there is much less spoil to dispose of and potentially less need for additional materials to backfill.

Less mess / risk of spillages / cross-contamination

As the excavated material is collected in a dedicated holding tank on the machine on the Vac-ex machine, this prevents the spoil from being spread around the site, reducing the risk of spillages or cross-contamination and making the clear up process faster.

Eliminating underground utility strikes

If underground utilities are damaged during the excavation process, reinstatement and associated costs can spiral. Vacuum excavation is highly effective at preventing damage to underground utilities, due to the non-invasive process used to safely expose live utilities that could easily be damaged by traditional hand digging methods. The immediate cost of a utility strike is typically the repair of the broken infrastructure but then the ramifications of such incident often incurs project delays, equipment damage, penalties, fines, administrative resources and legal action. There is also the damage it can do to your reputation and the result of such an incident on your health and safety records.

Less man power

Vacuum excavation significantly reduces the amount of man power required for excavation. A small team of operators can quickly fulfil an excavation project compared to a traditional team hand digging on site. This reduction of footfall can result in a much lesser impact on the overall site and reduces the work required to return it to its original condition.

Reduce your reinstatement costs with Vacuum Excavation

Here at John Mee Vac-Ex Hire, we understand the implications that organisations face when it comes to reinstatement costs once an excavation takes place. We don’t take these costs and the responsibility lightly, which is why our operators are trained to the highest standard to utilise vacuum excavation to minimise the associated costs of restoring a site back to its original condition.

Don’t leave your next excavation project to chance, using our elite vacuum excavation operators takes the fear of the unknown away, giving you peace of mind for a predictable and positive outcome. Being the original operators in the UK, take advantage of our teams expertise with free advice when preparing for any job. John Mee Vac-Ex Hire can get the project specified correctly, first time, makes the planning phase of a construction project much clearer and efficient.

For 24/7 National Hire please call: 01302 713 646

formed Editor at Vac-Ex

We have been in the business for more than 30 years and service customers across Lincolnshire and beyond.