Test Pit Excavation Services
Safe & Reliable Test Pit Excavation for Geotechnical, Environmental & Utility Investigations
Hanlon Drilling provides professional test pit excavation services to support geotechnical investigations, environmental assessments, utility locating, and construction planning. Using the appropriate excavation equipment for each project, our experienced team exposes subsurface conditions quickly and safely, giving engineers, geologists, and contractors direct access to soil profiles, underground utilities, and buried structures.
Test pits offer a practical and cost-effective method for evaluating shallow subsurface conditions, allowing for visual inspection and sampling that cannot always be achieved through traditional drilling methods.
What Are Test Pits?
A test pit is a shallow excavation created to expose and examine subsurface soil, rock, utilities, or existing infrastructure. Unlike drilled borings, test pits provide a full view of the soil profile, enabling engineers and environmental professionals to observe soil layering, identify buried materials, verify utility locations, and collect representative bulk samples.
Test pits are commonly excavated using excavators or backhoes and are typically restored after the investigation is complete in accordance with project requirements.
Common Applications
Hanlon Drilling performs test pit excavations for a variety of projects, including:
- Geotechnical site investigations
- Environmental site assessments
- Utility locating and verification
- Foundation and footing evaluations
- Pavement investigations
- Stormwater and drainage projects
- Construction planning
- Soil classification and profiling
- Bulk soil sampling
- Land development projects
Our Test Pit Services
Our team works closely with engineers, environmental consultants, contractors, and utility professionals to safely complete excavation projects while minimizing disruption to the job site.
Services include:
- Test pit excavation
- Soil profile evaluation
- Bulk soil sampling
- Utility exposure and verification
- Foundation investigations
- Pavement and subgrade evaluations
- Visual soil classification
- Contaminated soil investigations
- Site restoration following excavation
- Field documentation and reporting support
Benefits of Test Pit Investigations
Test pit excavations provide several advantages for shallow subsurface investigations, including:
- Direct visual inspection of soil layers
- Easy access for bulk soil sampling
- Accurate identification of underground utilities
- Verification of existing foundations and structures
- Cost-effective for shallow investigations
- Faster evaluation of site conditions
- Supports informed engineering and construction decisions
Safety Is Our Priority
Excavation projects require careful planning and strict adherence to safety protocols. Hanlon Drilling follows industry best practices and applicable safety regulations to help protect workers, project personnel, and underground infrastructure.
Our crews coordinate with project teams to identify underground utilities, implement appropriate excavation procedures, and restore work areas after testing is complete.
Industries We Serve
Hanlon Drilling provides test pit excavation services for clients in a wide range of industries, including:
- Geotechnical engineering
- Environmental consulting
- Civil engineering
- Commercial construction
- Residential development
- Transportation
- Utilities
- Municipal infrastructure
- Industrial facilities
- Government agencies
