Excavation & Earthworks Westmead

It depends on the volume of material, the ground (shale clay on the ridge), access for the machine and how far spoil has to be carted. Every job gets a written quote after a site look, with the dig, cartage and cleanup spelled out, so you know what’s included before anything starts.

Usually, if the excavation is part of a build. Cut and fill beyond set limits, work near boundaries and anything on a lot with a flood, bushfire or heritage overlay needs approval as part of the DA or CDC. We work to the approved plans; check with your certifier before the dig is booked.

A trench, pool dig or single pad is a day or two; a knock-down site cut or a basement runs longer and depends on volume, ground and weather. Dates come with the quote, not after.

Rarely. Shale clay on the ridge, deeper fill around the hospital precinct. Shale under the clay is ripped rather than broken. Real rock work in this region is along the river and at Prospect, not on the flat streets.

Yes. Multi-level basements in Westmead are dug in stages to the shoring engineer’s sequence, boundaries sawn and protected, with groundwater from the river and the creeks planned for from the geotech. Spoil is trucked on a schedule so the street stays clear.

It’s common around Prospect. Shale clay on the ridge, deeper fill around the hospital precinct. Filled quarry ground is tested and either removed or re-compacted to the engineer’s spec before anything goes on it, and the site look tells you which before the quote.

Reactive clay. It swells in wet winters and shrinks in dry summers, and anything poured on loose or uncompacted fill moves with it. A pad cut and filled in compacted layers to the engineer’s spec is what stops the new slab doing the same thing.

Yes. The old house down, slab and footings out, the block stripped and the new pad cut and compacted, as one run if you want the demolition handled too.