Excavation Safety

General Requirements

Contact Miss Utility

Miss Utility must be contacted (call 811 or 1-800-552-7001) at least 72 hours prior to digging, regardless of the anticipated depth or location to identify sewer, telephone, fuel, electric, water lines, fiber optics, etc.

It is highly recommended that photographs be taken of the markings made by Miss Utility prior to digging.

Digging shall not begin until proper clearance has been given as indicated on the ticket. The ticket number shall be entered on the Excavation Assessment Form. Excavators are required to keep the ticket number with them on the job site.

Appropriate authorities must be notified of gas or other hazardous substance leaks occurring during excavation activities. 

For more information, review the Miss Utility program.

Best Practice

Class "C" Soil

If personnel will be entering the excavation, the designated competent person must determine the appropriate protective system to prevent a potential cave-in. In most cases, soils at the Virginia Tech campus have been previously disturbed and are considered to be class "C" soil. Best practice is to assume the worst class of soil (class "C") and implement the appropriate protective system, such as:

• Using a trench box for the size and depth of the excavation to be entered, or
• Sloping the sides of the excavation back to a 1 1/2 H to 1 V (i.e. 34 degrees) slope or bench.

This practice should cover the majority of excavations performed by Virginia Tech personnel. Where it does not, and class "C" soil protective system requirements cannot be met, the competent person should contact Environmental Health & Safety for guidance, if necessary. Examples of when this practice is not feasible include bell-bottom pier holes or excavations where manufactured trench boxes are not available.