Specialized Shoring Solutions
The excavation side of a shored job. Specialist shoring contractors design and install the major support systems; IRONWILL Earthworks digs, hauls and backfills around them, on commercial, industrial and public sites across Texas and Oklahoma.
What we do on a shored excavation, and what we leave to specialists
A shored excavation is two jobs. One is the support itself: the wall, the piles, the bracing, designed by an engineer and installed by a contractor that does nothing else. The other is the dirt: everything that has to come out of the hole, go somewhere, and come back in once the structure is built. We do the second job.
When a shoring contractor has a lot of material to move, we take it out in the sequence the support allows, haul it off or stockpile it, and backfill and compact once the structure is in. On our own projects, where a cut needs major support, we bring in shoring partners we have worked with before and carry the coordination, so the owner still deals with one contractor for the site. Where a job suits it, we also install a vendor's proprietary support system we have used before.
Tell us the depth, the footprint and who is doing the shoring, and we will tell you how we fit around it.
How we work around the shoring
The support is designed and built by the shoring contractor. The dirt is ours. This is how the two jobs fit together on one site.
Coordinate with the shoring contractor
We agree the sequence with the shoring contractor and its engineer before mobilization: how deep each lift goes before the next stage of support, where the equipment and the spoil can sit, and how the site is accessed.
Excavate in the sequence the support allows
The cut follows the support down, never ahead of it. Our competent person inspects the excavation and the area around it every day, before work starts and after rain1.
Haul or stockpile the spoil
Material comes out and goes where it belongs: off site, to a stockpile, or into the site's balance where the geotechnical report allows it to be reused.
Keep the site working around the hole
Access, drainage and the rest of the earthwork on the site keep moving while the shored excavation is open, on one schedule.
Backfill and compact
Once the structure is built, the excavation is backfilled in lifts and compacted to the project's specification, in the order the shoring contractor removes its support.
Hand back a finished site
Grade restored, the material accounted for, and the site ready for the next trade.
Have a shored excavation coming up?
Send the depth, the footprint and the shoring plan if there is one. We will tell you how we fit around the support and what the excavation looks like from first lift to final grade.
How we work on a shored site
Safety first
Worker protection sets the pace of the dig, not the other way around.
Honest scope
We do the excavation and say so. Major shoring goes to the specialists who build it every day.
Trusted partners
Shoring contractors we have worked with before, brought in and coordinated by us.
One contractor for the dirt
Cut, haul, backfill and the rest of the site work under one schedule.
Shoring questions
Do you install shoring yourselves?
Not as a shoring contractor. Major shoring systems are designed and installed by specialist partners, and we do the excavation around them. Where a job suits it, we install a vendor's proprietary system we have used before.
What do you do on a shored excavation?
Everything on the dirt side: the cut, in the sequence the support allows; the spoil, hauled or stockpiled; and the backfill and compaction once the structure is built.
Can you work with the shoring contractor we already have?
Yes. That is most of this work. We agree the sequence with them and their engineer before mobilization.
Can you bring in a shoring partner for our project?
Yes. Where our own projects need major support, we bring in shoring contractors we have worked with before and carry the coordination.
Where do you work?
Across Texas and Oklahoma, from our base in Dallas.
Sources
Every number and every rule on this page is cited here. Reviewed September 30, 2026.
- 29 CFR 1926.651, Specific Excavation RequirementsOccupational Safety and Health AdministrationDaily inspection of excavations, adjacent areas and protective systems by a competent person, before work and after rainstorms (k).