The cost, time, and overall inefficiency of traditional excavation has reached a tipping point, according to a press release from the Ohio-based trenchless sewer repair company Invisible Excavations. After studying the cost-benefit relationship between the two processes, the company decided it was time to launch an awareness program of sorts to get the information to the public.
“We decided to make the investment into the latest ‘no-dig’ equipment to help save our customers both time and money,” said company spokesman Brian McDermott in a statement. “The trenchless technology is the best way to do this. Invisible Excavations will be addressing the pipe rehabilitation needs of all residential and commercial customers for the greater Cleveland, Ohio, area for the next 30 plus years.”
The ever-increasing cost and hassle of traditional excavation has been a problem in the industry for years, but with new technology being developed every day trenchless means are becoming more and more popular. Despite this fact, 78% of people in one Angie’s List survey had never heard of “no dig” sewer technology.
Yet the average cost of a traditional excavation reached $13,000 this year (depending on the size), according to the home improvement website CostHelper.com. This number doesn’t even take into account any of the costs associated with repairing lawn and hardscape features disturbed after the digging is done.
The actual cost of a trenchless operation is comparable to its more invasive counterpart, but since only a small hole needs to be dug in order to do it the cost, time, and labor needed to return a lawn back to its original state afterwards is eliminated. The overall time it takes to complete a project is reduced significantly as well.
“Our trenchless techniques can reduce the time needed to complete a project to 24 hours in many cases as opposed to several days or weeks when using traditional methods,” McDermitt said.
There are two primary ways to go about trenchless operations: pipe bursting, in which a new pipe is put in place, or repairing the old one with specialized lining. Depending on the condition of the piping in place will determine which one is required.
