Wet ground behind a house in Edson shut down my whole dig crew

We were trenching for a sump line near Edson and the soil looked fine on top. Then the excavator sank 2 feet into a hidden seep that wasn't on any survey map. Turns out an old neighbor had a buried drain pipe from 1989 that dumped right there. Alberta's ground maps don't flag those, so now I call the local village office before every job, not just the registry. Anyone else hit a mystery wet spot that cost them a day or more?

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the_lisa20d ago

Hell yeah I've been there. Ground looked solid, we started cutting, and boom, the whole track sank into a muck pit that wasn't on any map. Now I always walk the site with a probe rod and check the county's old drainage records in person, not just the online registry. Last year we found a buried septic field that way, cost us half a day but saved us from a real mess. Also, if the ground's been farmed, ask the landowner about old tile lines or drain pipes. They usually know more than any map does.