First time Slide Rail user makes the grade fast
and easy with Efficiency Production System

East Tennessee Grading, Inc. (ETG) of Chattanooga, Tennessee, recently installed a new pre-cast lift station for the City of Chattanooga as part of an overall upgrade to the sewer system.

Mike Brock, ETG’s Estimator and Project Manager, looked at the details of the project and determined that using traditional trench boxes would not be the most cost effective solution: “The wet-well needed to be set much deeper than what we normally use trench boxes to shore,” Brock said. “I know other people who had used a Slide Rail System before, and they advised that it might be an option.”

Brock contacted Efficiency Production, Inc.–the country’s leading manufacturer of trench shielding and shoring–because he has been very satisfied with other Efficiency trench safety equipment that he has used. “After calling Efficiency, I talked at length with Greg Ross (Efficiency’s Slide Rail Installer and Sales Manager) about using Slide Rail on this project and he sent me a proposal drawing; really everything I needed to bid on the project,” adds Brock. “Plus, Greg was willing to come on site and help install the system.”

First-time user discovers the Efficiency Slide Rail advantage
The lift station, and gravity connector and force-main were installed more than 30 ft. deep in rocky, Type C-60 soil. In order to reach that depth, ETG bench down partly into the side of hill before excavating to grade. Brock rented from Efficiency a four-sided, 20 x 20ft. pit system which allowed them to excavate the pit 24 ft. deep to reach grade. The entire excavation took up only a small area, and did not require as much backfill material.

“The Slide Rail System was installed in a just one afternoon; and removed in just a half a day,” explains Brock. “Greg (Ross) was also very helpful. He came on site and immediately helped troubleshoot in spots that might have been troublesome. He literally jumped into the hole and did not leave the site that evening until the system was in,” Brock adds.

“Dig and Push” system reduces over-excavation
Efficiency’s Universal Slide Rail is a component shoring system comprised of steel panels (similar to trench shield sidewalls) and vertical steel posts. The versatile system can be used in a variety of configurations, such as small four-sided pits; large unobstructed working pits as big as 50 x 50 ft. with Efficiency’s ClearSpan™ System; or in a linear Multi-Bay configuration to install length of pipe over 40 ft.

Slide Rail is installed simultaneously as the trench or pit is excavated by sliding the panels into integrated rails on the posts–either double or triple rails depending on needed depth–then pushing the panels and posts incrementally down to grade as the pit is dug; a process commonly referred to as a “dig and push” system.

“Slide Rail works because it keeps excavations tight and vertical with no loss of dirt or fill,” explains Ross. “With Efficiency’s Slide Rail, you’re able to reach deep depths quickly; much faster than tight sheeting.”

Efficiency Production’s Slide Rail is unique in that it is installed and removed incrementally, which allows the trench to be properly shored throughout the entire installation or removal process, always protecting workers from a trench wall collapse.

Project completed on time
Brock and his crew were able to install the entire wet-well in one day, aside from the cap which was subcontracted. All told, ETG completed the 28 foot deep wet well portion of the project from beginning to end in just three days! “I hadn’t used Slide Rail before, but it went in so much faster and a lot easier than I was expecting,” says Brock. “I would definitely use Slide Rail again for future projects with similar conditions.”

The new lift station was part of upgrade to the area’s sewer system in anticipation of more commerce in that area. The upgrade also included eliminating an elevated sewer line that crossed a nearby creek.

East Tennessee Grading used a CAT 345 and a CAT 325 Excavator to install the Slide Rail System and the 10 ft. diameter round, pre-cast lift station; plus a CAT D6 bulldozer. East Tennessee Grading, founded in 1989, specializes in site grading and utility work for such projects as commercial, residential, highways, airports, railroads, landfills; plus water and sanitary sewer.

Efficiency Production, Inc., “America’s Trench Box Builder™,” provides the widest selection of standard and custom trench shielding and shoring systems. Efficiency’s versatile products are designed specifically for safe and cost effective installation of utility systems and infrastructure improvements. All products are P.E. certified to meet OSHA and MIOSHA standards.

East Tennessee Grading, Inc. of Chattanooga, Tennessee, recently installed a new pre-cast lift station for the City of Chattanooga. The lift station was installed 30ft. deep in a 4-sided pit shored with an Efficiency Production Slide Rail System	In order to reach 30 ft. deep, ETG bench down partly into the side of hill before excavating to grade.
ETG rented from Efficiency a four-sided, 20 x 20ft. pit system which allowed them to excavate the pit 24 ft. deep to reach grade.	Slide Rail is installed simultaneously as the trench or pit is excavated by sliding the panels into integrated rails on the posts–either double or triple rails which telescope panels to needed depth–then pushing the panels and posts incrementally down to grade as the pit is dug; a process commonly referred to as a “dig and push” system.