There are few things more stressful than watching a club of tradies trying to fix a broken mains pipe as a fountain of water pours forth. Or as luck would have it, liquid of another sort, breached during excavation works.
Witnessing this sticky situation a few too many times in his home town of the Gold Coast, local contractor Andy Smith knew there had to be better way to go about the business of excavating in built-up areas.
He put his mind to tackling the problem and formed Dynamic Hydro Excavations in 2003, offering a non-destructive hydro excavation service.
“Hydro excavation is a very safe way of digging using water pressure to cut and excavate,” Andy explained.
“My trucks are built for digging holes using high-pressure water that cuts soil and dirt into slurry that is simultaneously sucked up by a vacuum hose.”
The key to Dynamic Hydro Excavations’ operation is avoiding costly damage to fibre optic cables, water mains and other delicate underground services.
Their water pressure and vacuum method—developed and refined by Andy over the years—significantly reduces the risk of electrocution for workers and civil engineers on the job site.
With a fleet of over 100 vehicles and excavation plants now in operation, Dynamic Hydro Excavations has diversified its offering to include specialised technical services such as CCTV inspection and recording, truck and asset monitoring and underground service location.
The business has opened hubs from Rockhampton through to Sydney, and recently across the border to Victoria. It’s also involved in major infrastructure projects such as the Inland Rail between Queensland and New South Wales.
The perfect combo
It’s been a bit of a tough nut to crack the ideal truck and equipment combination, as Andy’s hydro excavation plants weigh a literal tonne (and more).
He said one of the key issues has been finding an OEM and truck model range that supports the business as it evolves, with the payload required and cab comfort for the drivers.
“I had been with a different truck brand but needed a chassis to fit to a new plant that was required out on a job site ASAP, and my old brand couldn’t accommodate this.
“I wasn’t satisfied with that provider or their customer service, so I walked into Gold Coast Isuzu and have never looked back,” Andy explained.
Dynamic Hydro Excavations now has over 45 Isuzu trucks across the country, with plans to expand and replace older trucks in the fleet.
In the last six months the company has introduced a variety of new models, including an Isuzu FVR 165-300 Auto 4×2, two FVZ 240-300 Auto 6x4s, an FYH 300-350 Auto 8×4, and two FYJ 300-350 Autos.
Each of these truck models features 6-speed Allison transmission, with Allison 3000 Series in the FVR, Allison 3500 Series in the FVZ while the larger 8×4 models feature the heavy-duty Allison 4430.
Andy said this is a key inclusion for his business as new drivers are more likely to have an automatic heavy truck licence over manual.