Hydro excavation in Corpus Christi
Send the dig: holes, depth, lines, site rules. Independent hydrovac operators who work the Coastal Bend quote you directly.
A quote-request service, not a contractor. We pass your request to independent local operators who quote you directly.
Hydrovac jobs by type
Each job type has its own page: the scope, what to prepare, and the questions operators ask before they price it.
- Daylighting / potholingSee gas, power, water and fiber lines before anything bigger goes in the ground.
- Slot trenchingNarrow trenches for conduit and fiber, cut around the lines already there.
- Refinery & plant digsDigs inside fenced facilities, where onboarding and permits come first.
- Pipeline exposure & crossingsExpose a pipeline to confirm depth before a crossing or an integrity dig.
- Vacuum truck & slurry removalPull mud, spoil and water out of pits, vaults and excavations.
- Emergency line exposureUncover a damaged or leaking line without making it worse.
- Sewer, sprinkler & small digsSewer taps, sprinkler lines, sign and post holes near buried services.
- Something else?Describe the dig in the form and we'll route it to operators.
How a quote works
This site doesn't run trucks. It collects the details a hydrovac operator needs to price your dig, passes them on, and gets out of the way. The full process
Send the job
Use the form or WhatsApp. Tell us the town and site, what's buried, how many holes or how much trench, how deep, and when. An 811 ticket number helps if you have one.
We route it
We pass your request to independent hydrovac operators who work Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend. Plant and terminal jobs go to operators who say they can meet site onboarding.
Operators quote you
Operators contact you directly with price, truck, crew and availability. Ask each one for insurance certificates and the paperwork your site needs, as you would on any bid.
You choose
You hire the operator you pick and deal with them directly. The contract, schedule, safety plan and payment are between you and them.
Digging on the Coastal Bend
What shapes hydrovac work here: plants on the ship channel, port and terminal projects, and the Texas 811 rules that apply to every dig.
Refinery row on the ship channel
Refineries and petrochemical plants along the ship channel use hydrovac for maintenance and turnaround digs near crowded underground piping. Refinery & plant digs
Texas 811 comes first
Excavators generally must notify Texas 811 at least 48 hours before digging, not counting weekends and legal holidays. The marks show roughly where member utilities' lines run. A daylight hole shows exactly where. Daylighting / potholing
Port and terminal work
The Port of Corpus Christi Authority puts dock and maintenance work out to bid. Contractors on port and terminal jobs often need test holes around existing utilities before piling, trenching or boring. Service areas
Inside the fence
Plants and terminals set their own contractor rules: site orientation, safety pre-qualification, insurance certificates, badging. Say so in the form so your request goes to operators who can meet them. How it works
When can you dig?
Texas 811 generally needs at least 48 hours' notice before you dig, and weekends and legal holidays don't count. Enter when you call to see the earliest usual start.
Earliest usual start
Example: call on a Thursday at 10 a.m. and the earliest usual start is Monday at 10 a.m. If a legal holiday falls inside the window, add a business day. This is a planning aid, not legal advice: Texas 811 and the line owners have the final word, and tickets expire on long jobs, so renew before yours runs out.
Hourly
Typical for daylighting a handful of holes, or a short call-out.
The hour usually covers the truck, an operator and a helper. Travel time, minimum hours, disposal and standby while you wait on a permit or an escort can be extra.
$200–450per hour
Get real quotesDay rate
Typical for turnarounds, long slot-trench runs and multi-day site work.
Ask what a day includes: hours on site, debris-tank dumps, overtime, and time spent on orientation at the gate.
$3,500–4,500per day
Get real quotesTypical market ranges from published hydrovac pricing guides, not our rate card. Operators set their own prices, and your quotes can land outside these numbers.
Common questions
How much does hydro excavation cost around Corpus Christi?
Published Texas and US pricing guides put hydrovac work at roughly $200 to $450 an hour, and day rates around $3,500 to $4,500. Those are typical market ranges, not our rates.
Your price depends on truck size, crew, travel, how many holes or how much trench, soil (clay and caliche dig slower than sand), spoil disposal, standby time and any plant onboarding. Operators quote you directly.
Do I need a Texas 811 ticket before hydro excavation?
Yes, in general. Excavators must notify Texas 811 at least 48 hours before digging, not counting weekends and legal holidays, and the call is free. Give the ticket number to the operator you hire. On long jobs the ticket can expire, so check the current rules and renew it.
Is hydro excavation the same as hydrovac or vacuum excavation?
In practice, yes. Hydro excavation, hydrovac and vacuum excavation all describe digging with pressurized water and lifting the spoil with a vacuum truck. Some operators also offer air excavation, which uses compressed air instead of water.
What is daylighting, or potholing?
Digging a small hole to expose a buried line so you can see it, confirm what it is and measure its depth before bigger digging starts. More on daylighting and potholing.
Why use a hydrovac near gas lines and fiber?
Water loosens the soil and the vacuum lifts it out, so no bucket teeth come near the line. That makes it the usual choice for digging close to gas, power, fiber and pipelines, where a strike is dangerous and expensive.
Can operators work inside a refinery, plant or port terminal?
Many hydrovac operators here do plant and terminal work, but every facility sets its own contractor rules: orientation, safety pre-qualification, insurance certificates and work permits. Tell us in the form if your site has onboarding, and confirm it with each operator before you hire.
Who actually does the work?
Independent local hydrovac operators. Corpus Christi Hydrovac is a quote-request service: we pass your job details on, operators quote you directly, and you hire and pay the one you choose.
Do you cover Portland, Ingleside, Robstown and Aransas Pass?
We take requests from across the Coastal Bend, including Portland, Ingleside, Robstown, Aransas Pass, Rockport, Port Aransas and Kingsville. Whether a truck can get to you, and when, depends on the operators. See all service areas.
Where we take requests
8 of 14 towns
Corpus Christi
Nueces County. Refinery row, the port, downtown and the Southside.
Portland
San Patricio County, across Nueces Bay from Corpus Christi.
Ingleside
San Patricio County, on the north shore of Corpus Christi Bay.
Robstown
Nueces County, west of Corpus Christi.
Aransas Pass
San Patricio County, on the way to Port Aransas.
Rockport
Aransas County, up the coast on Aransas Bay.
Port Aransas
Nueces County, on Mustang Island.
Kingsville
Kleberg County, south of Corpus Christi.
Send the job details
Four short steps. Operators need the site, the scope and your 811 status to price a hydrovac job.
We pass your request to independent local operators who quote you directly. We don't own trucks or do the digging.