Bellevue Hill: 1,400 m³ out of a driveway you can’t turn a ute in.
Project overview
A knockdown-rebuild on a steep Bellevue Hill block: new basement and pool, 1,400 m³ of sandstone and fill to remove, with a single 2.8 m-wide driveway shared with the neighbouring property as the only way in or out.
The challenge
Two builders had already priced the dig assuming a crane and bin-lift cycle — blowing the budget by six figures. The shared driveway limited truck movements to 20 minutes an hour under the access agreement, and the sandstone shelf started 400 mm down.
Our approach
We ran a 5.5 t machine with a breaker at the face and a conveyor line to a street-side bin, keeping the driveway clear except during scheduled loading windows. Spoil moved in bogie loads timed to the access agreement, six a day. The rock rate and the truck windows were separate line items in the quote, so the owner watched costs track exactly as written.
The outcome
Dug to survey level in 11 working days — three under programme — with zero crane hire and no access-agreement breaches. The builder poured the basement slab the week after handover. Final cost landed $4,200 under the approved budget.
Tell us about the job.
Price back within 24 hours — or we’ll tell you straight if it’s not our kind of work.