A suction excavator, or vacuum excavator, is a construction vehicle that removes heavy debris or other materials from a hole on land using vacuuming. Suction excavators are meant to be more non-destructive than regular excavators. The suction excavator uses suction fans for the airflow to suck up the material that is then transported into the holding tank. Hydro excavation, a type of suction excavator using high-pressure water jets, is sometimes referred to as daylighting, as the underground utilities are exposed to daylight during the process. Some suction excavators also use an air filter.

History

Since 1993, RSP UK Suction Excavators Ltd. has produced suction structures mounted onto two, three, and four-axle vehicles, stationary suction units, and custom-made machines. Pacific Tek, also founded in 1993, has created the Angled Vacuum Excavator Tank (1997) and the 180° Swivel Mount Valve Operator (1999). In 1998, the Mobile Tiefbau Saugsysteme produced another type of suction excavator. The global market size for suction excavators was estimated to be valued at US$924.7 million in 2020.

Uses

Suction excavators are sometimes used for removing earth around buried utilities and tree roots. It can suck up liquids, e.g., water from a hollow. Typically, vacuum excavation loosens the soil with a blunt-nosed high-pressure air lance or water source and vacuums away loosened material. Depending on the machine used and soil conditions, a 12-inch-square, 5-foot-deep pothole can be completed in 20 minutes or less. Vacuum excavation is sometimes used in conjunction with conventional underground (one-call) locating services. Because of overlapping buried utility lines, locating devices often miss some of the buried utilities on a site and cannot completely or accurately mark a site. According to New Mexico 811's (NM811) Aligning Change, Locating with Potholing, "One-call paint marks and flags are the first steps in making the process of locating underground utilities safer, the use of vacuum excavation technology adds an additional margin of safety."