Excavation and Earthworks Across Wollongong

We treat every site as if something is buried there until proven otherwise. Every excavation starts with a BYDA request, which returns plans from the authorities running water, sewer, gas, power and telecommunications. Those plans only show public assets, though, and older homes around Wollongong often have private lines nobody recorded, like stormwater pipes, a power run to the shed or irrigation. So we also read the surface for clues such as meter boxes, sewer inspection points and pit covers. Where any doubt remains, we expose the line gently by hand or with a vacuum truck, which costs far less than slicing through a live cable or water main.

They take more planning. Steep sites under the escarpment usually need cut-and-fill, retaining and sometimes a geotechnical report, as council maps parts of the foothills as landslip risk areas. Low ground near the beaches, creek flats and Lake Illawarra raises three issues of its own: stopping the machine from bogging, holding up trench and pit walls in soft or wet soil, and making sure the final levels shed water away from the building. That last point is easy to miss. Altering ground levels changes where runoff ends up, sometimes onto the neighbours, and a cut or pad without proper drainage can cause problems in the first big East Coast Low. Plan drainage, and any retaining, at the same time as the dig rather than afterwards.

Where it's suitable, keeping soil on site for landscaping or building up a low corner is usually the cheapest option, as there's nothing to truck away. It only works if the material suits the purpose and there's a sensible place to put it; heavy clay or organic soil, for example, is poor fill under slabs and driveways. Anything left over goes to an appropriate landfill or recycling facility. Clean fill and contaminated soil are handled and priced very differently, so tell us at quote time about anything in the site's past, such as an old fuel tank, buried rubbish or previous industrial use.

Possibly. It depends on the depth of cut and fill, how near the work is to boundaries and buildings, and what kind of land it is. Coastal cliff-top lots, flood-prone or coastal hazard land, mapped landslip zones, waterways and protected vegetation can each bring requirements under council planning controls and the NSW planning rules, and earthworks forming part of a building project may fall under that project's approval. On low-lying coastal land, acid sulfate soils might also need assessing before digging. We'll flag anything that looks relevant during our visit, but always check with your council or an accredited certifier before work begins.