A trench only works if it matches what’s going in it. Water lines need enough cover to stay below frost, sewer and drain lines need a steady fall, and power and gas need the depth and separation the code and your trades call for. Get any of that wrong and someone ends up digging it back out.
We handle trenching throughout Ashley Valley for homeowners, builders, farms, and commercial properties. Some runs are a short hop from a house to a detached garage, and others cross acreage to reach a well, barn, or shop. Basin digs and backfills, and your plumber, electrician, or utility provider lays the line. We schedule around them so the trench isn’t sitting open longer than it has to.
We've trenched through clay, cobble, and old ditch banks around Ashley Valley, so the ground rarely catches us off guard.
Mini excavators for tight yards and larger machines for long rural runs let us match the trench to the property.
If a route looks risky or a depth doesn't add up, we'll raise it with you and your trades before digging.
Spoils stay on one side of the trench, sod gets saved, and we clean up tracked dirt before leaving each day.
Trenching requests across Ashley Valley come from all kinds of properties. A homeowner adding a detached garage needs power run out to it. A builder on a new lot needs water and sewer from the street to the foundation. A farm wants a buried line to a stock tank or a shop at the back of the place. Businesses along US-40 and US-191 need conduit, gas, or drain lines for new buildings and additions.
The common thread is a clean, straight trench at the right depth. On new construction where several services head to the same building, planning utility prep for the whole site lets us group routes and dig them in fewer passes.
At around 5,300 feet, with winter nights that drop to roughly 10°F, Ashley Valley gets cold enough to freeze shallow water lines. The depth your plumber specifies for a water service is there for a reason, and holding that depth the full length of the run matters. A trench that’s deep at both ends but rides up over a rock or a buried slab in the middle leaves a weak spot right where you can’t see it.
We check depth as we dig instead of eyeballing it at the end. Sewer and drain lines get extra attention, since they need a steady fall with no bellies where water and solids can settle.
Utah law puts the locate call on whoever is digging, so Basin calls Blue Stakes at 811 for our trenching work. The call goes in at least 3 business days before the dig and no more than 14 calendar days ahead. Once the marks are down, the ticket is good for 21 days. If weather or a schedule change pushes the job past that, we get the lines remarked before we start.
Keep in mind that locators only mark public utilities. Private lines on your side of the meter, like a feed to a barn or a sprinkler main, need to be flagged by you before we dig.
Basin digs and backfills, and the plumber, electrician, or utility company lays the line. A quick conversation between everyone before the dig saves a second trip. Here’s what we like to have answered:
Ashley Creek has fed irrigation in this valley since settlers arrived in 1873, and plenty of properties still have ditches, laterals, and headgates crossing them. A trench that has to pass a ditch needs planning so we don’t undercut the bank or open a path for water to follow the new line. Timing helps too, since a ditch is easier to work around when it isn’t running.
Ditch banks here are often crowded with Russian olive and tamarisk, and their roots grab onto anything in the way. If a route runs through that growth, brush clearing along the route opens it up before the trencher arrives.
Most bad trenches show up months later as a sunken line across the yard. That happens when backfill gets pushed in all at once and left to settle on its own. We put material back in layers and compact each one, keep rocks off the pipe, and mound the top slightly so the last bit of settling evens out. Sod and topsoil we set aside at the start go back on top.
If a sprinkler line got cut or the system needs a new route around the trench, irrigation fixes can get it watering again. Call (801) 669-0512 and we’ll come walk your route.
We walk the route with you, mark start and end points, and note fences, ditches, and private lines along the way.
Your free quote covers trench length, depth, crossings, and restoration, so you know what the job includes up front.
We call Blue Stakes, dig to the depth your trades specify, then backfill and compact in layers once the line is in.
We walk the finished route with you, check that the surface sits level, and handle any last touch-ups.
