Digging

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Movements of the ploughman when digging Cavar (26999245241).jpg
Movements of the ploughman when digging
A dog digging on a beach. Zeus, Digging For China.jpg
A dog digging on a beach.

Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock on the surface of Earth. Digging is actually the combination of two processes, the first being the breaking or cutting of the surface, and the second being the removal and relocation of the material found there. [1] In a simple digging situation, this may be accomplished in a single motion, with the digging implement being used to break the surface and immediately fling the material away from the hole or other structure being dug.

Contents

Many kinds of animals engage in digging, either as part of burrowing behavior or to search for food or water under the surface of the ground. [2] Historically, humans have engaged in digging for both of these reasons, and for a variety of additional reasons, such as engaging in agriculture and gardening, searching for minerals, metals, and other raw materials such as during mining and quarrying, preparing for construction, making fortifications and irrigation, and also excavations in archaeology, searching for fossils and rocks in palaeontology and geology and burial of the dead.

Digging by humans

Twelfth century illustration of a man digging. Hunterian Psalter c. 1170 digging.jpg
Twelfth century illustration of a man digging.

Reasons

A group of men digging for Kauri gum in New Zealand. Group of gum diggers in gumfield (1908).jpg
A group of men digging for Kauri gum in New Zealand.

There are a wide variety of reasons for which humans dig holes, trenches, and other subsurface structures. It has long been observed that humans have a seemingly instinctive desire to dig holes in the ground, manifesting in childhood. [3]

Like other animals, humans dig in the ground to find food and water. Wood-lined water wells are known from the early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture, for example in Kückhoven (an outlying centre of Erkelenz), dated 5090 BC and Eythra, dated 5200 BC in Schletz (an outlying centre of Asparn an der Zaya) in Austria. [4] Humans are unique among animals in the practice of burial of the dead. Intentional burial, particularly with grave goods, may be one of the earliest detectable forms of religious practice since, as Philip Lieberman suggests, it may signify a "concern for the dead that transcends daily life". [5] Evidence suggests that the Neanderthals were the first human species to practice burial behavior and intentionally bury their dead, doing so in shallow graves along with stone tools and animal bones. [6] [7] Exemplary sites include Shanidar in Iraq, Kebara Cave in Israel and Krapina in Croatia. Some scholars, however, argue that these bodies may have been disposed of for secular reasons. [8] Notably, burial of the dead prevents diseases associated with the presence of corpses, and prevents scavengers and other predators from being attracted.

The earliest undisputed human burial discovered so far dates back 100,000 years. Human skeletal remains stained with red ochre were discovered in the Skhul cave at Qafzeh, Israel. A variety of grave goods were present at the site, including the mandible of a wild boar in the arms of one of the skeletons. [9]

As human technology advanced, digging began to be used for agriculture, mining, and in earthworks, and new techniques and technologies were developed to suit these purposes.

Borrow pit

An excavator working in a borrow pit. American35.jpg
An excavator working in a borrow pit.

In construction and civil engineering, a borrow pit, also known as a sand box, is an area where material (usually soil, gravel or sand) has been dug for use at another location. [10] Borrow pits can be found close to many major construction projects. For example, soil might be excavated to fill an embankment for a highway, clay might be excavated for use in brick-making, gravel to be used for making concrete, etc.

In some cases, the borrow pits may become filled with ground water, forming recreational areas or sustainable wildlife habitats (one such example is the Merton Borrow Pit, near Oxford in central England, excavated to provide materials for the nearby M40 motorway). In other cases, borrow pits may be used for landfill and waste disposal.

Borrow pits are common archaeological features in Waikato, where sand and gravel were dug to mix with clay topsoils to improve their drainage and friability, [11] to suit growth of kūmara and taro, brought by Māori from tropical islands. [12]

A regional variation of this is termed "barrow pit" in the western United States (especially the Rocky Mountains). The localism—sometimes pronounced "borrer pit"—describes the ditch along a roadway. These ditches were excavated to provide the fill to level and crown the roadway and subsequently provided drainage for the road. [13]

An excavation lake (also a flooded gravel pit) is an artificial lake, which usually has its origins in the excavation of gravel or sand for construction materials or in some other kind of surface mining. In many cases, the excavation holes are landscaped according to the land restoration required by law. Because the excavation reached a point below the water table, lakes form naturally. Less frequently, excavation lakes are intentionally made, especially as recreation areas.

In Germany and Austria the lakes are almost always used for fishing, since a fishery is created by law with every surface water. At some excavation lakes, beaches are added for swimming or other water sports, in particular boating, water skiing or windsurfing. To support these uses, large parking lots, changing areas, and eating areas are also set up. In some cases, the excavation lake serves as a nature reserve, as in the case of the lakes in the Attenborough Nature Reserve.

Panorama of a "young" excavation lake in the Furstenfeldbruck district of Germany. Baggersee-Panorama.jpg
Panorama of a "young" excavation lake in the Fürstenfeldbruck district of Germany.

Methods of digging

Shovel next to a dug hole in a garden. 066 Digging a hole with a shovel - gardening tools.jpg
Shovel next to a dug hole in a garden.
Construction equipment being used to dig up rocky ground. US Navy 060127-N-4215N-005 Equipment Operator 3rd Class Tyler Randall assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Four (NMCB-4), Det San Clemente Island operates an excavator during a rock crushing evolution.jpg
Construction equipment being used to dig up rocky ground.

Although humans are capable of digging in sand and soil using their bare hands, digging is often more easily accomplished with tools. The most basic tool for digging is the shovel. [1] In neolithic times and earlier, a large animal's scapula (shoulder blade) was often used as a crude shovel. [14] In modern times, shovels are typically made of metal, with a wooden handle. Because digging is a cutting process, particularly where the soil being dug contains plant roots, digging is aided by the shovel being sharpened. [15]

Historically, manual shoveling (often in combination with picking) was the chief means of excavation in construction, mining, and quarrying, and digging projects employed large numbers of people. After the Industrial Revolution, mechanization via steam shovels and later hydraulic equipment (excavators such as backhoes and loaders) gradually replaced most manual shoveling; however, individual homeowners still often find reasons to engage in manual digging during smaller-scale projects around the home. [1] Different methods of digging can also result in different excavation depth and force, potentially risking exposure or damage to subsurface pipelines and wiring. In the United States and Canada, homeowners and contractors are required to notify a utility-run call center before digging to ensure they do not strike buried utilities and infrastructure. [16]

Soil suitability

The excavatability of an earth (rock and regolith) material is a measure of the material to be excavated (dug) with conventional excavation equipment such as a bulldozer with rippers, backhoe, scraper and other grading equipment. Materials that cannot be excavated with conventional excavation equipment are said to be non-rippable. Such material typically requires pre-blasting or use of percussion hammers or chisels to facilitate excavation. The excavatability or rippability of earth materials is evaluated typically by a geophysicist, engineering geologist, or geotechnical engineer.

The rippability of an earth (rock) material is a measure of its ability to be excavated with conventional excavation equipment. [17] A material may be classified as rippable, marginally rippable or non-rippable. The rippability of a material is often evaluated by an engineering geologist and/or geophysicist utilizing the seismic refraction equipment (see refraction). [18] [19] Rippability studies can involve the performance of seismic refraction traverses, the drilling of borings with an air percussion drill rig, the excavation of test trenches with a bulldozer with rippers or backhoe, and by geologic mapping.

Cave-in

Cave-in of an excavation is the detachment of the mass of soil in the side of the trench and its displacement into the hole, which represents a hazard to the person inside. [20] [21] Cave-ins are considered the largest risk when working within trenches. [22] [23] [24] Cave-ins can be caused by a combination of pressure on soil, vibration from equipment, and excessive loads. Several techniques are used to minimize the likelihood of cave-ins, including sloping, shoring and shielding. [25]

Types of digging

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeological excavation</span> Exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains

In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be conducted over a few weeks to several years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trench</span> Excavated channel in ground

A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide, and narrow compared with its length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shovel</span> Tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials

A shovel is a tool used for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Most shovels are hand tools consisting of a broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle. Shovel blades are usually made of sheet steel or hard plastics and are very strong. Shovel handles are usually made of wood or glass-reinforced plastic (fiberglass).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quarry</span> A place from which a geological material has been excavated from the ground

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safety risks and reduce their environmental impact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Excavator</span> Type of construction equipment

Excavators are heavy construction equipment primarily consisting of a boom, dipper, bucket, and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house" - although the largest form ever, the dragline excavator, eliminated the dipper in favor of a line and winch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravel pit</span> Open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel

A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defensive fighting position</span> Type of earthwork constructed in a military context

A defensive fighting position (DFP) is a type of earthwork constructed in a military context, generally large enough to accommodate anything from one soldier to a fire team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loader (equipment)</span> Heavy equipment machine

A loader is a heavy equipment machine used in construction to move or load materials such as soil, rock, sand, demolition debris, etc. into or onto another type of machinery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trowel</span> Hand tool

A trowel is a small hand tool used for digging, applying, smoothing, or moving small amounts of viscous or particulate material. Common varieties include the masonry trowel, garden trowel, and float trowel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windover Archeological Site</span> Place in Florida listed on National Register of Historic Places

The Windover Archeological Site is a Middle Archaic archaeological site and National Historic Landmark in Brevard County near Titusville, Florida, United States on the central east coast of the state. Windover is a muck pond where skeletal remains of 168 individuals were found buried in the peat at the bottom of the pond. The skeletons were well preserved because of the peat. In addition, remarkably well-preserved brain tissue has been recovered from 91 skulls from the site. DNA from the brain tissue has been sequenced. The collection of human skeletal remains and artifacts recovered from Windover Pond represent among the largest finds of each type from the Archaic Period. It is considered one of the most important archeological sites ever excavated.

A shovel test pit (STP) is a standard method for Phase I of an archaeological survey. It is usually a part of the Cultural Resources Management (CRM) methodology and a popular form of rapid archaeological survey in the United States of America and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trencher (machine)</span> Construction equipment

A trencher is a piece of construction equipment used to dig trenches, especially for laying pipes or electrical cables, for installing drainage, or in preparation for trench warfare. Trenchers may range in size from walk-behind models, to attachments for a skid loader or tractor, to very heavy tracked heavy equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power shovel</span> Bucket-equipped machine used for digging and loading earth

A power shovel, also known as a motor shovel, stripping shovel, front shovel, mining shovel or rope shovel, is a bucket-equipped machine usually powered by steam, diesel fuel, gasoline or electricity and used for digging and loading earth or fragmented rock and for mineral extraction. Power shovels are a type of rope/cable excavator, where the digging arm is controlled and powered by winches and steel ropes, rather than hydraulics like in the modern hydraulic excavators. Basic parts of a power shovel include the track system, cabin, cables, rack, stick, boom foot-pin, saddle block, boom, boom point sheaves and bucket. The size of bucket varies from 0.73 to 53 cubic meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Well</span> Excavation or structure to provide access to groundwater

A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn up by a pump, or using containers, such as buckets or large water bags that are raised mechanically or by hand. Water can also be injected back into the aquifer through the well. Wells were first constructed at least eight thousand years ago and historically vary in construction from a simple scoop in the sediment of a dry watercourse to the qanats of Iran, and the stepwells and sakiehs of India. Placing a lining in the well shaft helps create stability, and linings of wood or wickerwork date back at least as far as the Iron Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marmes Rockshelter</span> United States historic place

The Marmes Rockshelter is an archaeological site first excavated in 1962, near Lyons Ferry Park and the confluence of the Snake and Palouse Rivers, in Franklin County, southeastern Washington. This rockshelter is remarkable in the level of preservation of organic materials, the depth of stratified deposits, and the apparent age of the associated Native American human remains. The site was discovered on the property of Roland Marmes, and was the site of the oldest human remains in North America at that time. In 1966, the site became, along with Chinook Point and the American and English Camps on San Juan Island, the first National Historic Landmarks listed in Washington. In 1969, the site was submerged in water when a levee protecting it from waters rising behind the then newly constructed Lower Monumental Dam, which was 20 miles (32 km) down the Snake River, failed to hold back water that leaked into the protected area through gravel under the soil, creating Lake Herbert G. West.

A bucket is a specialized container attached to a machine, as compared to a bucket adapted for manual use by a human being. It is a bulk material handling component.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lovelock Cave</span> Cave in United States of America

Lovelock Cave (NV-Ch-18) is a North American archaeological site previously known as Sunset Guano Cave, Horseshoe Cave, and Loud Site 18. The cave is about 150 feet (46 m) long and 35 feet (11 m) wide. Lovelock Cave is one of the most important classic sites of the Great Basin region because the conditions of the cave are conducive to the preservation of organic and inorganic material. The cave was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 1984. It was the first major cave in the Great Basin to be excavated, and the Lovelock Cave people are part of the University of California Archaeological Community's Lovelock Cave Station.

This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunnel construction</span> The construction method for building a tunnel

Tunnels are dug in types of materials varying from soft clay to hard rock. The method of tunnel construction depends on such factors as the ground conditions, the ground water conditions, the length and diameter of the tunnel drive, the depth of the tunnel, the logistics of supporting the tunnel excavation, the final use and shape of the tunnel and appropriate risk management. Tunnel construction is a subset of underground construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aigyr-Zhal 2</span>

Aigyr-Zhal 2 is a historical site in Naryn city on the territory of University of Central Asia (UCA), Kyrgyzstan. It is a part of a bigger and more complex site Aigyr-Zhal. It is dated between Mesolithic time and the Middle Ages. Aigyr-Zhal is the only site in the Tian-Shan that has evidence of human occupation from Mesolithic time till the Turkic period . It was first discovered in 1953 by Akhmat Kibirov. However, during the Soviet time the site was partially destroyed, therefore it was impossible to research the site for a long time. Only in 2012 it was first researched by Kubat Tabaldiev's archaeological team. The length of Aigyr-Zhal 2 is 300 metres, while the width is 100 metres, and the height of the site is 2026 metres above the sea level. Since 2002 the whole Aigyr-Zhal complex has been on the list of national importance of Kyrgyzstan.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Carl Dreher, "The Right Way to Dig", Popular Science (March 1957), p. 179.
  2. ↑ Zen Faulkes, "Morphological Adaptations for Digging and Burrowing" (2013), p. 276-295.
  3. ↑ R.A. Archer, "Spontaneous Constructions and Primitive Activities of Children Analogous to Those of Primitive Man", in Karl M. Dallenbach, Madison Bentley, Edwin Garrigues Boring, eds., The American Journal of Psychology (1910), p. 119.
  4. ↑ Tegel W, Elburg R, Hakelberg D, Stäuble H, Büntgen U (2012). "Early Neolithic Water Wells Reveal the World's Oldest Wood Architecture". PLOS ONE. 7 (12): e51374. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...751374T. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051374 . PMC   3526582 . PMID   23284685.
  5. ↑ Philip Lieberman. (1991). Uniquely Human. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN   0-674-92183-6.
  6. ↑ Wilford, John Noble (December 16, 2013). "Neanderthals and the Dead". The New York Times . Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  7. ↑ Chris Scarre, The Human Past
  8. ↑ "Evolving in their graves: early burials hold clues to human origins - research of burial rituals of Neanderthals". Findarticles.com. 2001-12-15. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  9. ↑ Lieberman, Philip (1993). Uniquely Human page 163. ISBN   9780674921832 . Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  10. ↑ Design of a monitoring protocol/plan for sand borrow areas, Dredging News Online, 7 January 2000
  11. ↑ Ellen Cameron, Rod Clough (August 2019). "Cambridge, growth cell c4 structure plan: preliminary archaeological assessment" (PDF).
  12. ↑ "draft Leamington Domain Masterplan" (PDF). Waipā District Council. 7 September 2023.
  13. ↑ Cassidy, Frederic Gomes, and Joan Houston Hall (eds). (2002) Dictionary of American Regional English. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  14. ↑ Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, p. 304.
  15. ↑ David Tracey, " How to dig a hole", Urban Agriculture: Ideas and Designs for the New Food Revolution (2011), p. 119.
  16. ↑ "Call811 | Know what's below. Call before you dig". Call 811. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  17. ↑ W. Ed Wightman, Frank Jalinoos, Philip Sirles, and Kanaan Hanna (2003). "6.2.3 Determining the Rippability of Rocks". Application of Geophysical Methods to Highway Related Problems. Federal Highway Administration, Central Federal Lands Highway Div. pp. 318–322.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)(accessed 17-Sep-2009)
  18. ↑ F. MacGregor; R. Fell; G. R. Mostyn; G. Hocking & G. McNally (1994). "The estimation of rock rippability". Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology & Hydrogeology. 27 (2): 123–144. doi:10.1144/GSL.QJEGH.1994.027.P2.04. S2CID   129440512.
  19. ↑ D. M. McCann & P.J. Fenning (1995). "Estimation of rippability and excavation conditions from seismic velocity measurements". Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special Publications. 10: 335–343. doi:10.1144/GSL.ENG.1995.010.01.29. S2CID   129125257.
  20. ↑ "Trenching and Excavation Policy » Environmental Health & Safety » University of Florida". www.ehs.ufl.edu. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  21. ↑ Carl O., Morgan. Excavation Safety: A Guide to OSHA Compliance and Injury Prevention. Government Institutes. p. 10.
  22. ↑ "Boonton company admits criminal fault in deaths of two workers in trench collapse". dailyrecord.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  23. ↑ "Alabama construction company penalty for trenching hazard affirmed - Business Insurance". businessinsurance.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  24. ↑ "Trenching and Excavation Safety". www.osha.gov. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  25. ↑ Labour, Government of Ontario, Ministry of. "Excavation Hazards (Fact Sheet)". www.labour.gov.on.ca. Retrieved 20 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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