Exposing cables and pipes
Trial holes, service connections and crossings with existing utilities. Wherever you need to know exactly what is in the ground, a suction excavator exposes it without damaging anything.
- Safe around gas, water, power and fibre
- Non-conductive and non-sparking tooling
- Works even where the drawings are wrong
- Clean hole, so you see exactly what is there
Utility drawings are a guide, not a guarantee
On paper the service runs in a particular place. On site it often sits a little to one side, deeper or shallower, and sometimes there is something down there that appears on no drawing at all. That gap between paper and reality is exactly where strikes happen.
A suction excavator closes that gap. You expose the area carefully, see what is genuinely there, and only then carry on. That is the whole point of damage-free excavation.
Typical jobs
Trial holes
Establish quickly and under control exactly where a service runs, before the main work starts.
Service connections
Expose connections without tearing up the front garden, the paving or the pavement.
Crossings
Work where several services come together and a bucket is simply not an option.
Repairs
Expose a failed service so the engineer can get to work straight away and safely.
Why it is safe around cables
Three properties separate a machine you are allowed to use next to live power from one you are not.
Non-conductive
The tooling is aluminium and PE, the lance shaft is PEHD insulated and tested to 75 kV per foot.
Non-sparking
The nozzles are brass, which makes work in gas-enriched environments possible.
No mechanical force
Air puts no pressure on the service. A plastic duct or a fibre cable comes through undamaged.
Zero vibration
The lance is tested at 0 m/s², which is safer for the service and for the operator alike.
Who uses it
This application is mostly hired by:
- Network operators and utility companies
- Fibre and cable installers
- Contractors and groundworkers
- Municipalities and water authorities
- Service connection installers
How it runs on site
Locate
Drawings and a locator give the direction, the machine gives certainty.
Expose layer by layer
Break up and extract until the service is visible. No contact, no pressure.
Work and backfill
The engineer works in a clean hole, then the soil goes back from the tank.
Hire for one job or for longer
For a single trial hole you hire a week; for a cable project often several. The rate is the same per week and per package, whichever machine you choose. Full details on vacuum excavation hire.
Want to know which machine fits your excavation first? Look at suction excavator hire. For the technique behind it, see vacuum excavation services.
Frequently asked questions
Can you work next to gas mains with this?
Yes. The tooling is non-sparking and non-conductive, which is what it is designed and tested for. That is exactly why network operators use the technique around gas and power.
Does it damage fibre?
No. There is no mechanical contact between the tooling and the cable. The soil is broken up with air and extracted, and the cable stays exactly where it is.
How deep can you go in a trial hole?
For trial holes and service connections a compact machine is usually enough. If you need to go deeper, up to around 8 metres, choose the trailer unit.
Does it replace the utility search and locating?
No, it comes after them. The search tells you roughly where, the locator narrows it down, and the suction excavator exposes it without risk.
Does it work under paving or a road surface?
The surface has to be broken out first, which the suction excavator does not do. Once the ground is reachable the machine takes over and works cleanly down to the service.
Can we do this with our own people?
Yes. After a hand-over briefing most engineers manage well. For particularly delicate work we supply an operator through the operated complete set.
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ViewVacuum excavation hire
Hire a VAC-EX suction excavator by the week, with or without an operator.
ViewSuction excavator hire
The VAC-EX machine range, from compact tracked unit to trailer.
ViewDamage-free excavation
Digging around cables and pipes without damaging what is buried.
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Contact details
Tornado Rent B.V.
Dienstenstraat 1-5
3161 GN Rhoon
Marcel Haring
We deliver throughout the Netherlands and Belgium. Arrange transport yourself or let Tornado Rent handle it.
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