A Day in the Life of an Underground Utility Crew

It's 7:00 AM on a subdivision site in Southwest Ohio. Nobody's digging yet. The operators are checking oil levels while the rest of the crew pulls the day's tools. Digging starts once that's finished, because the setup is what keeps the rest of the day running. 

None of that order is improvised. Every person on site knows the day's task and their own part in it before the first bucket of dirt moves. Even a new hire has a defined part, because somebody shows them the work and stays close while they learn it.  

A job description for a utility laborer will list the duties on a crew like this one. But it can't show you how those duties fit together across a workday. This blog follows one full day on a pipe crew. Seeing how it comes together is the best way to judge whether this is the job for you. 

The Day Starts Before the Digging Does
 

The first hour looks slower than you might expect. There's a lot that needs to happen before the work begins. Plenty can go wrong around an open trench and heavy equipment. This doesn't leave much room for mistakes, so the crew keeps track of its people, tools, and equipment all through the day. Safety is a method of working, not just a meeting at the start of the morning, and that means that everyone needs to get their ducks in a row first thing. 

Operators have the task of checking the machines they'll be operating before any work starts. The check covers oil levels and standard component safety. It happens every day, whether or not the machine gave anybody problems the day before. If there is something that needs attention, it's a lot safer and easier to catch first thing rather than later with a trench half open.  

The rest of the crew pulls tools for the day's tasks. What they pull depends on the work planned for the day, since setting sanitary sewer doesn't need the same gear as water taps, for example. 

By the time the machine checks are done and tools are pulled, everyone has what they need for the day's tasks. And they're also that much more awake before getting into the work that asks for attention and awareness. 

The Work Repeats Down the Line
 

Once the digging starts, the crew works one length of pipe at a time. The trackhoe opens a stretch of ground down to depth. Up top, somebody cuts a length of pipe to size and hands it down. The people in the trench guide it into place, seat it against the last section, and make the joint. Then the machine moves ahead for the next stretch and the crew starts over. 

That's the shape of the whole day. What changes is the ground, the depth, and what's going into the trench. Running that sequence over and over is how somebody picks up the whole job rather than one piece of it. Everybody works close enough to see how the operator holds depth and how a joint gets made. That's how people end up ready for the next seat. 

The Foreman Sets the Pace 

The foreman decides what the crew is repeating and how fast the trench moves. He calls the day's task, then checks the grade as the pipe goes in. Grade is the depth and slope the plans call for, which every length has to land on. 

The crew takes direction from him all day. He works out at the trench rather than from an office, looking at the same section of pipe they are. 

The Operators Move the Earth

The crew can only keep going if the machines stay ahead of them. The trackhoe operator digs down to depth and holds the trench on line and grade, then lowers each length of pipe in for the crew to set. The wheel loader operator keeps material moving up to the work so nobody has to go looking for it. 

Both machines run within a few feet of people all day. The operators watch the crew as closely as they watch the ground. 

The Laborers Set the Pipe

Every length of pipe passes through the laborers' hands. The top man works at ground level beside the trench. He cuts each length to size, then hands it down along with the tools and fittings the crew needs. Below him, one or two people set the pipe and make the joint. Then they call for the next one. 

Most people hired as an underground laborer start in one of those two spots. Training happens on the job, so a new hire watches somebody experienced do the task, then does it with that person close by. Plenty of the operators on that site started as laborers doing exactly that. 

Lunch at 11:30, Done by 5:30
 

The crew breaks for lunch at 11:30 and gets back to work at noon. The afternoon picks up on the same stretch of trench or the next one down the line, running the same sequence for the rest of the day. 

Quitting time is 5:30, or a little sooner when the crew reaches a good stopping point. Nobody walks away from a trench with a joint half made, which means whatever is open gets finished before anybody heads for the trucks. A stopping point is something the crew works toward, not something the clock decides. 

Not every day looks like this one. A hard rain can leave water standing in the trench, which means the morning starts with a pump instead of a length of pipe. Ground too soft to hold a trackhoe sends the crew home until it dries out. The work also runs harder at some times of year than others. It picks up in the spring and stays heavy until close to Christmas, then slows through the winter months. Anybody weighing this kind of job should plan a budget around that. 

Take a Seat on the Crew with Charles H. Hamilton
 

Tomorrow morning starts at 7:00 all over again. And crews doing this work have seats to fill. The people who fill them come in with all kinds of backgrounds, including some with no construction experience at all. New hires start on top of the trench or down in it, learning from people who've done the work for years. 

Charles H. Hamilton has worked as an underground utility contractor in Southwest Ohio since 1964. We handle underground utility installation on subdivision sites, plus excavation, grading, roadway work, and more. If that day sounds like one you'd want, we've got a place for you to start. Apply today to build your career with Charles H. Hamilton.