Underground Utility Detection and Utility Mapping Solutions
Posted 12 months ago at 5:39 pm. 0 comments
Utility detection with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
The modern city is a maze of streets and alleys, buildings and barriers. As complicated as cities are on the surface, however, the situation below ground can be even more confusing: power, telephone and fibre optic cables compete for space with water and gas mains, wastewater drains and sewer pipes. Complicating the issue further, new utilities are constantly being installed and existing services relocated, with layers of utilities both in and out of use dating back as far as the 19th century.
For excavating contractors, encountering buried utilities during excavation can result, at best, in costly delays and financial or other penalties where services are disrupted; at worst, this scenario carries the risk of the injury to workers or even death.
Before contractors commence excavation on a site, it is therefore vital that they make every effort to detect and locate all buried utilities likely to be affected by planned excavation or construction activities. In the first instance, this is likely to involve contacting a “before you dig” service. These services collate information from utility companies regarding the location of buried utilities and pass these data on – usually for a fee – to excavating contractors.
While utility tracking services provide an essential first filter for contractors, they are not infallible: maps may be incomplete or inaccurate; utilities may have been added, removed or relocated without that information being passed on. For this reason, it is advisable for excavating contractors to engage the services of suitably qualified, experienced and equipped utility surveyors and a utility mapping service.
Using modern methods and technology such as electromagnetic detectors, radiodetection and ground penetrating radar systems (GPRS), it is possible to locate accurately a wide range of buried utilities including both metallic and non-metallic pipes and cables. These utilities can then be mapped using a combination of traditional survey techniques, GPS and geographical information systems (GIS) software.
JK Guest utility mapping solutions provide underground pipe location, cable detection and buried utility mapping services across the Greater Manchester area and beyond. JK Guest have invested in the latest radiodetection, GPRS and air vacuum excavation equipment to enable mapping and exposure of a variety of underground utilities with minimal risk to the operators.
Indeed, throughout more than 20 years of operation, JK Guest have maintained an enviable health and safety record, with not a single work-related injury.