Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Bryant.
Hi Michael, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
While at Clemson, my roommate owned a small construction company that I would assist him with on projects. During the summers, when I went home, I would work for a local General Contractor on numerous projects, from working in industrial plants finishing concrete to working in a hospital finishing a remodel. After I graduated Clemson, I began working for a large industrial service company where I would travel from Virginia to Florida all the way out to Texas.
I was recruited by an equipment rental company to do outside sales. During my 10-year tenure there, I found a love for solving my customers’ problems. I also fell in love with dewatering and the different methods and styles of dewatering. Dewatering is removing the groundwater from the ground, usually on a construction site where new sewer and storm pipes have to be installed. About a year ago, I came across a dewatering process that’s primarily used in Florida, and after some research realized that no one in our area offers it. Sock drain, as they call it, is essentially a French drain that is buried about 18 feet deep. Once it’s buried, you can connect a pump to it and remove the groundwater.
So, in January 2023, I set out to find the equipment I needed and the funding to start my company. I finally pulled the trigger in April 2023 and began what is now East Coast Dewatering.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
So far, it has been smooth and bumpy. The financing and taking the leap to go out on my own was surprisingly the easy part. The first real struggle we had was getting the sock drain delivered in time. We had already landed our first job only a few weeks after we moved our sock machine up from Florida. I had already ordered the sock drain and accessories, but the manufacturer kept hitting roadblocks with getting it made and getting it delivered. Once we got it delivered, we were able to complete the job in 2 days, still weeks ahead of the customer’s deadline.
The biggest struggle we have run into is customers not knowing about this method of dewatering. Sock drain is essentially installed by our specialized trencher that cuts a trench up to 18ft deep. We then run the sock below grade for their sewer or stormwater pipes in 300-600ft runs. After we run it, we can connect a pump to it, and it pulls all of the groundwater our through the sock.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We specialize in dewatering by use of sock drain or sock tile. We use a massive trencher that has a trenching arm that’s 22ft long that cuts the into the ground, while it cuts it also lays the sock.
Imagine you have a big bathtub filled with water, but you want to make the water go away. Now, pretend that the water in the bathtub is like the water in the ground that we don’t want when we’re building something like a neighborhood or a new industrial plant.
Sock drain dewatering is one method to remove the water from the ground. It uses special sock that is basically a deep French drain. The sock has tiny holes in them that let the water go into the pipe.
So, what happens is the sock pipe is trenched into the ground where there’s too much groundwater. The water goes into the tiny holes in the sock. On either end of the trench, we have a solid pipe that comes out of the ground. Once the sock drain is installed, we can hook a pump to the solid pieces and pull the groundwater out through the sock underground. This way, the builders can work safely, and the things they’re building stay nice and dry.
We are known for our safe and cost-effective solutions for groundwater removal.
I’m most proud that we are the only company along the coast of GA, SC, and NC providing this service.
We are different from other companies because no one else provides this service. We are leading a grassroots movement to make dewatering more cost-effective, safer for contractors to work in the trenches, all while providing superior customer service to contractors and the site owners.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
We took a boat trip to the Abacos with my family when I was about 12. While we were there, between snorkeling, diving, surfing, and fishing, I absolutely fell in love with the water. I’ve lived on the coast my entire life, except for a brief 4 years a Clemson, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eastcoastdewatering.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091897533327
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eastcoast-dewatering/
Image Credits
John Apsey
