Non-destructive digging · Blackwater QLD
We dig whereyou can't.
Hydro excavation, vacuum loading and civil works for mine sites, councils and contractors across Central Queensland. Live services exposed without a scratch. Pits, sumps and drains emptied. One call, one truck.
01 · The problem
Every site has a layer you can't see.
Power, gas, water, comms, sewer. The plans are often out by a metre, and a bucket doesn't care. Hit a live service and you are looking at a shutdown, a repair bill and an incident report. Or worse.
Plans are a guess
Before You Dig Australia plans show what should be there, roughly where. Depth is rarely on them at all.
Locators get you close
A locator narrows it down to a line on the ground. It still can't tell you what is sitting next to it.
Only exposing it is certain
Once the service is exposed you know the exact position and depth. Then the excavator can do its job safely.
This is where we come in
Water in. Dirt out. Service untouched.
High-pressure water breaks the ground. The vacuum lifts it away. The pipe or cable comes out clean, exactly where it sits.
Exposed. Untouched. Ready to work around.
02 · How hydro excavation works
Three steps. No strikes.
The same principle on every job, from a single pothole in a footpath to a shutdown on a mine site.
Water loosens the ground
A high-pressure water lance breaks up the soil around the service, not through it. Rock, clay, gravel, wet or dry. The service can't be cut, cracked or nicked by water.
The vacuum lifts it away
The slurry goes straight up the hose and into the sealed tank on the truck. No spoil pile, no mess on the road, nothing to shovel back later.
Service exposed, job keeps moving
Clean pothole, exact location and depth, photos for your records. Your crew works to a known service instead of a guess, and the excavator gets back to work.
03 · The truck
One truck. Built for this.
A Scania 6x4 vacuum excavation unit based in Blackwater. Scroll to walk around it, then look inside.
Walk-around
Scania 6x4 chassis
Built on a heavy-duty Scania 6x4: twin drive axles, air brakes, mine-spec lighting and a bull bar for the roads out here. The base has to be tough before anything on the deck matters.
Walk-around
CAT-powered vacuum unit
A CAT diesel on the deck drives the vacuum blower. Big airflow means wet ground, slurry and deep pits are not a problem, and the truck idles on hard standing while the hose does the work.
Walk-around
Sealed debris tank
Everything we lift goes into a sealed steel tank with a full-width rear door. Nothing is left on your site: the load stays on board until it is tipped at the disposal point.
Walk-around
Hoses and boom
Large-bore suction hoses reach into trenches, sumps and pits from the roadside. Pressure water breaks the ground, the vacuum lifts it. No bucket ever touches the service.
Blueprint
On paper first.
Tank, blower, hoses, water and lockers: the whole unit is drawn up and understood before it leaves the yard. That is what lets us say yes on the phone and mean it on site.
X-ray
Under the skin
Blower, pump, fresh water and the sealed tank, all built around one job: lifting what is in the ground without cutting what is in it.
X-ray
Maintained in-house
Engine, driveline, brakes and electrics are serviced by Sid's other business, S & P Robinson Heavy Diesel. A truck that turns up is a truck somebody looks after.
sprobinson.com.au →Exploded view
Apart and back together.
Cab, engine, driveline, tank and blower: nothing on this unit is a mystery to the bloke driving it. If it can be reached and it can be fixed, it gets fixed, usually the same day.
04 · What we do
Twelve services. One phone number.
From a single pothole to a week on a mine site. If it involves water, vacuum, dirt or drains, call us first.
Non-destructive digging
Civil & earthworks
Civil excavation
Bulk and detail excavation for civil, commercial and rural jobs.
Details →Trenching & footings
Straight, clean trenches and footings, dug to spec.
Details →Tipper & bobcat hire
Bobcat and tipper with an operator, by the hour or by the job.
Details →Landscaping & site clean-ups
Leave the site better than you found it.
Details →Vacuum & liquid waste
Dewatering & water transfer
Pump it out, move it, or take it away.
Details →Sump & pit cleaning
Sumps, pits and wash-down bays emptied and cleaned.
Details →Stormwater & drain cleaning
Blocked drains, culverts and pits cleared with vacuum and water.
Details →Sludge & waste removal
Sludge, slurry and liquid waste removed and disposed of properly.
Details →Not sure which one you need? Describe the job and we will tell you.
All services in detail
05 · Where we work
Blackwater based. Bowen Basin ready.
Blackwater sits in the middle of the Central Highlands mining corridor. Most sites in the Bowen Basin are inside two hours, and the Capricorn Highway is our driveway.
- BlackwaterHome base
- Bluff20 min
- Dingo45 min
- Emerald1 hr
- Middlemount1.5 hr
- Dysart2 hr
- Rockhampton2 hr
- Moranbah2.5 hr
06 · Safety and compliance
Tender-ready. Every job, every time.
Mine sites, councils and tier-one contractors ask the same questions before they let you through the gate. Here are the answers.
Before we dig
- Before You Dig Australia (DBYD) plans checked for every job
- Services located and marked before the water goes on
- SWMS and JSA prepared, site induction completed
- Exclusion zones, barriers and a spotter where required
- Photos and measurements of every exposed service
Tickets on the truck
- Certificate III Automotive Electrical Technology
- Certificate III Emergency Response and Rescue
- Confined space entry and gas testing
- Working safely at heights
- Dogging licence
- Elevated work platform (boom over 11 m) licence
- Advanced first aid, CPR and LV rescue
- Coal mining industry generic induction units
- Construction white card
- Four-wheel-drive vehicle operation
The company
- CQ Civil & Hydro Excavation Pty Ltd, registered in Queensland
- ABN 24 701 297 010 · ACN 701 297 010
- Public liability insured, certificate of currency on request
- Owner operated: the person you call is the person on site
- Capability statement and plant list available for supplier registration
Putting together a tender, a supplier registration or a prequalification? Ask for our capability statement, plant register and certificates of currency and we will send them the same day.
Request documents
07 · Who you're dealing with
The owner is on the truck.
No call centre. No subcontractor roulette. The bloke you ring is the bloke who turns up.
CQ Civil & Hydro Excavation is owned and operated by Sid Robinson, a Blackwater local with a trade background in heavy diesel and auto electrical work and years on mine sites and heavy plant. He knows how a site runs, what the supervisor needs to see and how to get the job done without drama.
Sid started the company in 2026 to give the Central Highlands a local, non-destructive digging option that turns up on time, does the paperwork properly and leaves the site clean.
Also on site
S & P Robinson Heavy DieselRepairs, diagnostics, auto electrical and field service for heavy plant. Same owner, same phone number.sprobinson.com.au →08 · Get a quote
Tell us about the job.
Urgent? Skip the form.
0473 059 626- sid@cqcivilhydro.com.au
- Base
- 5 Littlefield Street, Blackwater QLD 4717
- Hours
- Mon to Fri 6:30 am to 5 pm, Sat 7 am to 12 pm, after-hours call-outs by phone
- Response
- Enquiries answered within four hours in business hours, urgent jobs within the hour.