I worked in a cemetery our graves were close to 5 feet for a standard grave, I was in Utah and the city I worked for allowed double deep graves so families could stack 2 vaults in one grave it was a cheaper option and those were tough 8 feet deep
They’re dug as deep as the shovel and a mound or mounds are placed so they may get the straps out from the hole that lower the casket…… Former grave digger.
Sometimes when buying burial plots people reserve two spaces. Could be husband and wife or close relatives. In order to fit to grave for the same headstone they offset the graves a little bit. You would be suprised how meticulously they mark those graves. If accidents happens, (they do) and you hit a neighboring vault while digging police get involved.
Bring your digger lunch and I’ll guarantee he’ll leave some dirt behind for you to work with. If he’s good he’ll even leave a mound without getting of the backhoe.
It's a profession you would really have to ponder over. A lot of drama would accompany a person wanting to pursue this kind of career. How do you tell people you're a gravedigger at a cemetery, or an embalmer at a funeral home? Oh well, society needs this, and of course it has to be done.
Apparently more than he has made, because people still come out to the cemetery, Is that 6' deep ? Or, that looks deep. And someone with no clue says, yeah it's 6' deep.