Emergency excavation in Jacksonville, FL
When a storm opens a washout, a culvert collapses or a broken line needs to be dug out today, First Coast Excavation holds machine time for exactly this call. The call-out pricing is on this page, so you know the cost of picking up the phone before you do it.
Call (443) 364-3676 nowThe call-out math, published
| When | Mobilization | Machine and crew |
|---|---|---|
| Weekdays, 7am to 5pm | $450 flat | $185 to $285 per hour |
| Nights and weekends | $650 flat | $225 to $325 per hour |
Mobilization covers the crew and equipment rolling to your property. The hourly rate depends on the machine the job needs. Most emergency dig-outs run 2 to 6 machine hours; we tell you the honest guess before we leave the yard, and the meter stops when the digging does.
What counts as an emergency dig
- Storm washouts. A driveway, culvert or embankment that a Jacksonville downpour took out, where every following rain makes the hole bigger.
- Buried utility failures. A sewer lateral, water service or drain line that a plumber can fix only after someone gets it out of the ground. We dig, shore the hole safely and stay out of the plumber’s way.
- Collapse and undermining. Soil moving under a slab, pool deck or foundation corner, where the right move is opening the area up before it opens itself.
- Access cuts after storms. Downed material and washed-in debris blocking the only way onto a property.
How the emergency process works
Call the number at the top. A human answers, asks what happened, where the site is and what the water is doing, then gives you the mobilization price and an honest hour estimate on that call. On our way in we open an expedited Sunshine 811 ticket. Florida law still requires locates on emergency work; the difference is the process runs while the crew rolls instead of before.
On site, the first ten minutes are looking, not digging. Emergency holes on the First Coast usually involve water, and a dig plan that ignores it turns one emergency into two. Then the machine opens the area, the hole gets shored if anyone is going in it and the problem gets handed to whoever fixes the pipe, the slab or the roadway. We backfill and rough-grade when the repair is done, billed off the same public table as scheduled work.
Not urgent enough to call?
If the ground can wait until tomorrow, the form works fine and the same crew calls you back. If water is moving or soil is still sliding, use the phone.