What are Earthwork Excavations?

In the case of most new civil engineering projects, like building roads, dams, canals, railways, and buildings it is often necessary that the first activities would involve some form of earthwork excavation. This work can involve excavating the earth or filling earth to achieve desired levels before the actual hard construction activities are undertaken. 

It is often necessary before you undertake any construction, that a worksite needs to be cleared and leveled so that it becomes more accessible to men, machinery, and the movement of materials required for construction. While in earlier days these activities involved the use of a workforce equipped with digging and clearing tools, modern-day construction has the advantage of using machinery like excavators, breakers, and others, which reduce the need for manual labor to a great extent.  

The use of heavy machinery requires them to be operated by skilled, trained, and licensed operators who have the knowledge and experience to carry out the required earthworks with the precision that is required. In most earthwork projects large amounts of earth need to be removed or brought in and this requires the addition of transporting equipment like dumpers and loaders. This requires additional care for providing these movers with proper access and exits for their free movement. 

In many cases, it is often necessary to remove any rock that is encountered as part of the required excavation. The removal of the rock can require the additional use of breakers, which are often de-mountable equipment on excavators or may require separate deployment. In many cases, where sheet rock is encountered there is often a need for blasting with the use of explosives. This is a highly specialized activity which requires a lot of attention to safety, and the need to keep surrounding areas safe.

In many cases, where earthwork involves deeper excavation, it often happens that the required level of excavation goes below the groundwater table and this results in the excavated areas getting flooded with water. It would then become necessary for making arrangements to de-water the pits and arrange for making then dry until another hard construction like concreting is undertaken.

Earth has a natural tendency to slide and in many large excavations and trenches, it is often necessary to make adequate arrangements to support the side walls with shoring or other devices, so that the safety of the workmen inside the excavated area is not in any way compromised.

Earthwork can also quite often require the making of arrangements for disposal of the excavated earth, or the bringing in of large amounts of earth from outside sites.