“No, soil is not just dirt — as the engineers who took Carolina soils for granted have learned, and as farmers have learned decade after decade.”
I was on a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina recently to get some photos of our trucks and crews at work for Mears Group. After spending some time shooting some sweet, sweet hydrovac action I noticed the reddish mud that was all over the vac tube and subsequently all over the truck. It seemed really unique, even to someone that grew up surrounded by the deep red dirt of western Colorado. I snapped a few shots of the soil specifically to remind myself to do a bit of research on the stuff when I got back to CO.
I will admit, this was driven by a pretty placid curiosity around strange colored dirt. Little did I know I was going to find myself going down the metaphorical and literal rabbit hole of soil science. The stuff is fascinating! Once you expand your thinking past dirt being tiny, dead particles of rock and begin to see it as soil, a complex mass of chemicals and bio-materials that is very reminiscent of our own skin with all sorts of incredible capabilities and variability, the way you view the world around you will change a bit.
There is a link to one of the better articles that I found below. I suggest giving it a read. It’s one of those things that sounds wildly boring and ends up being very interesting. If you find yourself interested and wanting to learn more about soil science, let us know. We have fully capable soil science staff operating our Restoration/Reclamation division.
This division of the company exists to analyze the needs of disturbed land and take the steps necessary to return it to its original, productive state. Doing this includes the following services.
- Drill Seeding
- Hydro Mulch
- Ariel Seeding
- Hydro Seeding
- Ariel Mulching
- Erosion Control
- Fire Reclamation
- Mine Reclamation
- Slope Stabilization
- No-Till Drill Seeding
- Topsoil Preservation
- Seedbed Preparation
- Native Grass Seeding
- Topsoil Decompaction
- Watershed Reclamation
- Right of Way Reclamation
- Native Grass
- Stream Bank
- Dust Control
- Spill Clean Up
- Soil Stabilization
- Mine Restoration
- Flood Restoration
- River Restoration
- Slope Stabilization
- Wildfire Restoration
- Wetland Restoration
- Stormwater Controls
- Wildland Restoration
- Contamination Restoration
Original article: The Foundation of Everything
For inquiries about NG’s east coast hydrovac operations reach out to our area manager, Brian Vohs, by phone: (404) 416-5674 or by email at B.Vohs@ngcompanies.com