Hand dug 12' deep sewer repair

[Mr_David]

Had to share this one.
This sewer repair had to be hand dug 12' deep under a concrete block wall.
Took 4 guys 2 1/2 days to dig out and shore up.
It was all sand. I've done my share of digging deep holes but this one has to be the biggest one by hand yet.
When compared to some old abandoned mines I've seen in the desert though this aint nothing.
The job was to repair one lateral from one house.
It just happened to be the bottom one and they originally cut a hole into 6" clay tile pipe and inserted a 4" clay into the hole.
Homes were built around 1940.

 

[Chris]

I would have tore out that wall and used a tractor but I am lazy.

 

[Chris]

And that is some crazy spaghetti looking sewer.

 

[Mr_David]

No access for a tractor

 

[phishfood]

Wu-owww!!

4 street wyes, all in a row. And down in a spider hole at that.

 

[havasu]

Nothin a little duct tape wouldn't fix!

Truthfully, that looks like one heck of a job. I'd hate to be on the wallet end of that.

 

[waterwelldude]

Truthfully, that looks like one heck of a job. I'd hate to be on the wallet end of that.

+1


I guess the word WOW just about sums that one up.

 

[para1]

.............awsome pics.

 

[Mr_David]

adding a few pictures.
when I arrived this is all the shoring that was in place. I made them dig it out wider and shore it up better. The ground is all sand . It did cave in on my legs when we pushed the first sheet of plywood under the wall. There is another hole on the other side of the wall. That's me with the Jack hammer.

 

[Chris]

Nice pics Dave. We had our share of 12' deep holes a couple months ago with my guys. Nothing like digging that deep by hand. Hows everything been for you? When are we going jeeping again?

 

[journeyman]

Arent you suppose to use a whaler system for the shoring or hydralic shoring. But nice job. That is a crazy plumbing system

 

[Chris]

Wood is better than no shoring.

 

[Zanne]

Wow. Just saw this thread. That must have been a hell of a job. Posthole diggers might have worked for getting it started, but damn...

 

[heelspur]

Looked like it was a fun job, your lucky it was sandy soil, nothing but rock here.

 

[frodo]

NOW THAT is the prettiest example of flag poling I have ever seen!!!

Nice job guys. . you guys have major huevos.

 

[Mr_David]

NOW THAT is the prettiest example of flag poling I have ever seen!!!

Nice job guys. . you guys have major huevos.

Thanks. We should have used 6" X 4" wyes but we wanted to make sure we could get them all back in and reconnected.. The one on the bottom started the mess.
Here's a aerial view. you can see the small planter box we had to dig into and the narrow alley behind the block wall we tunneled under.