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Writer's pictureRALPH COPE

What is Trenching?


Trenching forms part of the excavation family which means all trenching is excavation, but not all excavation is trenching. The difference between a trench and a regular hole or pit is that a trench is deeper than it is wide, and the width tends to max out at around 5 meters. Trenches are used to lay pipes, electric cables, sewage lines, or telephone cables. At the residential level, trenching is most often used for digging irrigation or installing plumbing connections, electricity cables, and heating system pipes. At the city level, trenching is used to install drainage and sewer lines as well as city-wide electric lines.


Different types of trenches are determined by their shape, which depends on the purpose of the trench. The type of trench used in a given project is affected by different factors, such as the type of soil, the size of pipe or other conduits to be installed in the trench, proximity to nearby buildings, and the exact location of the trench. All of these elements determine the specific shape of the trench.


There are generally four types of trenches: Straight: A trench with sides that are parallel and at right angles to the base

Sloped: A trench with angled sides to prevent cave-ins, commonly used on new construction sites or for installing large pipes or culverts

Benched: A trench with sides that have been cut away to form steps

Bell-Bottom Pier Hole: A trench with a top that’s narrower than its bottom, creating a bell shape, often used for footing installations that support a structure’s foundation


Before you start trenching, you need to make sure there are no underlying utilities in play. The last thing you want to happen is to hit an underlying electric, sewage, or water pipe while you are digging the trench. You also need to inspect the site daily to ensure there is no risk of cave-ins. You may be trenching on soft soil, which means there is the ever-present risk that your trenching machine could collapse into the trench and place your operator and machine at risk.


You also need to make sure you have the correct bucket installed. Trenching buckets are designed specifically for trench digging. They work extremely well for navigating small space areas for things such as piping, ducting, and drain digging. The bucket's design is narrow and fitted with a sharp flat blade to penetrate through dense, compact ground materials. Operators can be very precise in their excavation with this style of the bucket. Trenching buckets are available on all excavators in a range of different sizes to suit.



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