Trenching vs Blasting
For many years the primary way to excavate for a pipeline through hard rock was by blasting.

More recently, trenching has become the favoured method in many situations as it offers several clear advantages:

• A much smaller and neater path is cut through the terrain.
• Less overall ground disturbance
• The excavated material can often be used for backfill
• More efficiency and speed in many situations
• Increased safety when working close to infrastructure and urban areas (less risk of liability)