SERVICES
Geoscience
Air-Knife Underground Clearing
Air knifing utilizes high-velocity air to penetrate, expand, and break up soil. The soil and rock is then removed from the hole using a powerful vacuum.
There are two big advantages of using high-velocity air over other means of excavation:
- Safety - Using air to break up the soil and remove it from the hole is far less likely to cause damage to underground utilities than mechanical excavation methods.
- Speed - Automating the "potholing" process allows more holes to be excavated with less manual labor.
Typical Air Knife Applications Include
- Pre-drilling location clearance
- Underground utility location verification
- Cathodic protection installation
- Underground piping and conduit repairs
- Manway and valve box cleaning/maintenance
- Rehabilitation/desilting of small diameter injection wells