Los Angeles excavation
Every trench starts with a DigAlert ticket, so gas, water and power lines get marked before anyone digs. Trenches 5 feet or deeper need cave-in protection, and sewer work in the street is permitted separately by the city. We dig to the line and depth the trade needs and backfill in compacted lifts.
California law requires a DigAlert (811) ticket at least two working days before digging, and no more than 14 calendar days ahead. We outline the trench route in white paint, submit the ticket, and don’t break ground until it is active; a ticket lasts 28 days. The utilities that belong to DigAlert then mark their own lines. What they do not mark is anything past it that the owner put in: the lateral from the house, a feed to a detached garage, irrigation lines, low-voltage cable to a gate. Those we locate from plans, cleanouts and careful hand digging near the marks.
Trenches 5 feet or deeper need cave-in protection, which means shoring, a trench shield, or sloping and benching the sides back. Below that depth, a competent person still checks the trench and can require protection if the soil shows signs of moving. If workers have to go down into an excavation 5 feet or deeper, California also requires a Cal/OSHA excavation permit. Loose sandy soil, a trench that crosses old backfill, and water in the bottom all push toward more protection, not less. Spoil is kept back from the edge so its weight does not load the wall.
A sewer lateral runs from the house to the public main, and the part under the street is a different job from the part in the yard. In the City of Los Angeles, sewer lateral and street work is permitted separately by the Bureau of Engineering through a sewer connection permit, and a new lateral in the street must be built by a City-bonded sewer contractor. Our scope says plainly which portion we dig and who holds the permit for the street side. Glendale is outside that system and runs its own permit process for work there.
Utility trenches are dug to the depth and width the plans or serving utility call for, with bedding material placed under and around the pipe or conduit as specified. The part that decides whether a trench causes trouble later is the backfill: soil returned in lifts and compacted so a patio or driveway laid over it does not settle along the line. Trenches often run to a new backyard unit, so see ADU pad excavation for how that tie-in is planned, and pool digs for the runs to an equipment pad.
What sets the schedule? The length and depth of the run, the DigAlert waiting period, and any street-work permit.
These often come up on the same lot, and can be planned from the same site visit:
Backyard and garage-conversion pads cut level and compacted, with machines brought through the side yard.
What it involves →New pool digs to the pool builder's layout, with a truck line for the export and a plan for where the soil goes.
What it involves →Breaking out slabs, driveways, sheds and old foundations, loading it into trucks and hauling it off.
What it involves →Site visit request
Tell us the address, what you're building and any plans you have. We'll call back to set up a site visit.
We'll call to set up a site visit. To talk sooner, call (213) 319-3620
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