An Excavating Contractor That Plans the Dig Before It Starts
Aspen Excavating digs basements, grades lots, trenches for water, sewer and power, exposes buried lines by hydrovac, demolishes houses and garages, breaks out concrete, and builds the drainage, retaining wall bases, culverts and ponds that keep water where it belongs. We work from 700 2 St SW in downtown Calgary.
An excavation is mostly invisible once it is backfilled, which is exactly why the parts nobody sees matter: the locate, the depth, the compaction, the bedding under a pipe and the slope of the finished grade. We explain what we are doing and why in plain English, and we photograph what gets buried.
How We Work
Locate first, every time
No bucket goes in the ground until buried utilities have been located and marked, and lines close to the dig are exposed by hand or hydrovac first. Private lines the utility does not mark, such as power to a garage or a line to a shop, are asked about before the machine arrives.
Dig to the drawings, not to eye
Depths, elevations and slopes come from the engineer’s or designer’s drawings and are checked with a laser or grade rod as the dig goes. Where there are no drawings and the job needs them, we say so before starting rather than guessing.
Safe trenches and walls
Deeper trenches and excavations are sloped, benched or shored as Alberta’s occupational health and safety rules require, spoil is kept back from the edge, and neighbouring foundations are protected rather than undermined.
Backfill that stays put
Settling backfill is one of the most visible problems a dig can leave behind. Backfill goes back in lifts and is compacted, with material that suits the job, so patios, driveways and grading do not sink the first spring.
Telling you when not to dig
Every service page on this site says when to choose something else. If a wet basement is really a grading or downspout problem, or a retaining wall needs an engineer before it needs an excavator, we tell you.
Material goes where it should
Clean clay, topsoil, concrete, asphalt, mixed debris and contaminated soil do not all go to the same place. Loads are sorted so concrete and asphalt go to a recycler that accepts them, since City of Calgary landfills do not recycle them, and anything that needs testing or special handling gets it.
What We Do
Who and Where
We work across Calgary, Rocky View County, Springbank, Bearspaw, Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere, Okotoks, De Winton and Heritage Pointe: for custom home and infill builders, for homeowners taking on a renovation or a repair, for acreage owners, and for commercial developers and general contractors.
Want a Straight Answer About Your Dig?
Call and describe the site and what is going in. We will tell you what the excavation involves, what permits and locates it needs, and whether it is the right job at all.