Abstract: A contractor was installing a new residential sewer pipe to a newly installed city sewer in virgin sandy clay soil that had many small stones. The sewer trench depth ranged from 17 ft at road berm to 6 ft at the residence. The width at the bottom of the trench was over 2 ft and the width at the top was estimated at 4 to 5 feet. A coworker who was operating a backhoe had been instructed by the property owner and the next door property owner to not put any dirt on their lawns. He had stacked the dirt in a pile 8 ft high on the edge of the south bank of the trench. On the last cut, Employee #1 was in the trench with a length of PVC pipe when the south bank collapsed, burying him under an estimated 6 ft of sandy clay. Rescuers refused entry until more of the wall was removed and a bucket restrained part of the north wall which was showing cracks. Employee #1 was killed. No shoring and inadequate layback contributed to the accident.