Replacing a water line under a paved driveway in Riverview?

Replacing a water line under a paved driveway in Riverview means cutting through asphalt, trenching to the pipe, and then backfilling and repaving. Machine time is the best-published figure for this kind of work: a mini excavator with operator runs $65 to $150 per hour and a standard excavator with operator runs $150 to $250 per hour, based on published price guides read in September 2026. Few New Brunswick prices for trenching per foot are published, so the quote you receive will be built from machine hours, trucking, backfill material and surface restoration.

Several things move the price on a driveway water-line job. The depth of the existing pipe matters because a deeper trench takes longer to open and close. The length of the run under the driveway determines how much asphalt has to be cut and how much backfill is needed. Soil conditions affect how quickly the machine works. If the contractor hits rock, a hydraulic breaker attachment runs $200 to $300 per hour, and that cost should be spelled out in the quote before work starts, not added as a surprise afterward. Trucking distance for spoil and the cost of new backfill material are also part of the real number.

Locates, permits and Riverview rules

Before any digging, two separate locate requests are needed. Info-Excavation, reached through Click Before You Dig, requires three working days' notice; that locate is valid until the end date written on the request. NB Power runs its own separate underground locate service and asks for at least five business days' notice; that locate is valid for 60 days from the date on the locate form and covers only NB Power-owned underground power lines. Private lines, including any wiring run to a garage or shed, are the property owner's responsibility to find and mark before the machine arrives. Whether Info-Excavation covers municipal water and sewer lines was not confirmed, so ask your municipality directly.

For permits in Riverview, Plan 360 (the Southeast Regional Service Commission) issues building permits for construction, renovation and demolition, and a permit may be required to tap into water and sewer mains. Check with Plan 360 before work starts to confirm what approvals apply to a water-line replacement under a private driveway. If the driveway is within 30 metres of a watercourse or wetland, a Watercourse and Wetland Alteration permit from the province is required before any machine work or ground disturbance begins.

WorkSafeNB's General Regulation 91-191 requires that any trench 1.2 m (about 4 ft) or deeper that workers enter be shored, sloped or benched, or cut in solid rock, and shoring must be engineer-certified. Stay back from the edge of any open trench.

A fair quote for this job names the machine rate, how rock is priced if encountered, trucking and disposal, backfill material, asphalt cutting and surface restoration, and a timeline. Ask for a WorkSafeNB clearance certificate before signing. Under the Construction Remedies Act, hold back 10% of the contract price for 60 days after the certificate of substantial performance is signed.

Before you commit, ask the contractor directly who is responsible for marking private lines on your property and what their process is if the dig uncovers something that was never located.