Hydrovac & Non-Destructive Excavation
Safe daylighting around live lines and congested corridors. Exposing what's underground without putting a blade near it.
When you don't know exactly what's under the dirt, mechanical excavation is a risk you can't take. Hydrovac uses pressurized water and vacuum to expose buried lines and utilities without damaging them.
Encore runs hydrovac as part of our own construction work and as a standalone service: potholing for tie-ins, daylighting existing infrastructure, and slot trenching in corridors too congested or too sensitive for a backhoe.
What this scope includes
Daylighting
- Potholing
- Utility location
- Exposing live lines for tie-ins
Excavation
- Slot trenching
- Precision digging in congested corridors
Conditions
- Hard, frozen, or rocky ground
- Sensitive / high-consequence areas
Support
- Backs our own construction crews to cut line-strike risk
Why operators choose us for this work
Strike-risk reduction. We expose before we excavate.
Integrated with construction. The same company laying the pipe can clear the path.
Permian-ready equipment and crews.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 200+
- miles of pipe laid in the last 12 months
- 25+
- field crews: steel, poly & composite
- 80+
- companies under MSA, upstream & midstream
- 95%+
- of the heavy iron on our jobs is our own
Figures from Encore's 2026 company sheet.
WHERE WE WORK
We mobilize from our yard at 6101 E I-20 in Midland, Texas, and work exclusively in the Permian Basin: the Midland Basin and both the Texas and New Mexico sides of the Delaware Basin. This basin is all we do, so our crews already know its caliche, its rock, its lease roads and its operators' standards.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is hydrovac excavation?
Hydrovac uses pressurized water to break up soil and a vacuum to remove it, exposing buried lines and utilities without putting a blade near them.
What is the difference between potholing and daylighting?
Potholing digs a small test hole to confirm a line's location and depth at one point. Daylighting exposes a longer section so crews can see and work on it.
Do you offer hydrovac as a standalone service?
Yes. We run hydrovac for our own construction crews and as a standalone service.
When do we need hydrovac instead of a backhoe?
Anywhere near live lines or utilities, at tie-ins, and in corridors too congested or sensitive for mechanical digging.
Does it work in hard Permian ground?
Yes. We run it in hard, frozen and rocky ground and in high-consequence areas.
Other work we self-perform
Need safe excavation around live lines?
Tell us what you need built. We'll expose before we excavate, and keep your existing infrastructure intact.