Soil Investigation
Test Pit Excavation & Perc Test Digs in Edison, NJ
Edison Excavation digs test pits across Edison and north Middlesex County: footing investigation pits for structural engineers, utility test pits ahead of a larger dig, and pits for perc tests and soil logs. Your engineer or the local health department sets the appointment, we arrive with the machine at the same time, open the pit for them to read the soil, and backfill cleanly once they're finished.
What a test pit visit includes
A test pit is a short job, but the timing and the read both have to be right. This is what we bring.
On Time for the Witness
Perc tests and soil logs happen with your engineer or a health department witness at the hole. That appointment is fixed, so our arrival is too: machine on site and ready at the set time.
Clean Walls for a Clear Read
We dig to the depth the engineer calls, keep the walls clean, and bench where needed, so the soil horizons and any signs of a seasonal high water table are easy and safe to observe.
Utility Pot-Holes and Footing Pits
Beyond perc work: utility test pits dug carefully by hand and bucket to confirm a marked line's depth and location before a bigger dig, and investigation pits at footing locations for structural engineers checking bearing soil.
Short digs with fixed appointments
A test pit is a small dig with a costly audience. The engineer is on the clock, a township witness may have limited windows, and a missed slot can delay a design or a permit by weeks. Most homeowners only hire for this once, so what matters most is a crew that arrives. We book the machine against the appointment and keep it.
Where we work
The dig is easy on the property. A tracked mini excavator walks in, opens the pit where the engineer staked it, and waits while the soil is logged. Afterward, spoil goes back in the order it came out, tamped, with the surface left slightly high so it settles flush. If the results lead to an addition footing or other excavation later, we already know the ground.
What happens after you call
From the site walk to the final cleanup
1. Site Walk
We visit the property by appointment, check access and any constraints, and go over your plans or what you have in mind.
2. Marking & Layout
The layout is set on the ground with laser accuracy. Depths, lines, and elevations are marked before any digging starts.
3. The Work
The right machine for the access comes in, ground protection goes down where needed, and disturbance to lawns, trees, and hardscape is kept to a minimum.
4. Clean Handover
You're left with a site ready for the next step and a yard that's still in one piece.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your engineer typically arranges any witnessed test with the local health department. Once the date is set, we schedule the machine around it and coordinate with the engineer directly. If the window moves, so do we.
The engineer sets the depth. Perc and soil-profile pits go deep enough to log the horizons and check for seasonal high water table evidence, and footing investigation pits go as deep as the structural engineer needs. We dig to their number and bench the pit where depth makes that the safe way to read it.
Yes. Once the 811 markout is on the ground, we open small pits over the marked lines by hand and bucket to confirm exactly where a utility runs and how deep it sits. Engineers, site contractors, and fence or foundation crews use that to plan the main dig. Each pit is backfilled the same visit.
Backfilled the same visit, tamped in lifts, raked out, and marked if the engineer wants to find the spot again. The surface is mounded slightly because fresh backfill settles, and within a season it sits flush with the lawn.
Service Areas
- Edison· Middlesex County
- Metuchen· Middlesex County
- Piscataway· Middlesex County
- Woodbridge· Middlesex County
- Highland Park· Middlesex County
- South Plainfield· Middlesex County
- Perth Amboy· Middlesex County
- Carteret· Middlesex County
- Rahway· Union County
- Linden· Union County
- Plainfield· Union County
- Dunellen· Middlesex County
Edison, Metuchen, Piscataway, Woodbridge, and nearby Middlesex and Union County towns north of the Raritan.
Have a test date set? Book the machine now and the pit will be open when your engineer arrives.
Site visits are by appointment. Share a few details about the project and a time gets set to walk the property together.