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 could be a lot 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 problems for workers as well as death.

Before Home Surveys Morecambe commence excavation on a site, it is therefore vital that they remember to detect and locate all buried utilities likely to be affected by planned excavation or construction activities. In the beginning, this is more 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 offer an essential first filter for contractors, they’re not infallible: maps may be incomplete or inaccurate; utilities may have been added, removed or relocated without that information being offered. For this reason, it is advisable for excavating contractors to activate the services of suitably qualified, experienced and equipped utility surveyors and a utility mapping service.

Using modern methods and technology such as for example electromagnetic detectors, radiodetection and ground penetrating radar systems (GPRS), it is possible to locate accurately an array of buried utilities including both metallic and non-metallic pipes and cables. These utilities may then be mapped using a combination of traditional survey techniques, GPS and geographical information systems (GIS) software.