Resources
In this section we've prepared a selection of downloadable documents as well as questions and answers, however, if you can't find what you're looking for please get in touch. Simply click on the questions below to reveal the answer.
General Questions
-
What is an underground utility survey?
This is the process of carrying out both desk and site based site investigations to provide accurate plans of the buried utilities, services and apparatus within a specified survey area.
-
Why carry out underground utility surveys?
There are many benefits associated with good quality underground utility mapping surveys including:
- ensuring safety of workforce during construction activities
- ensuring safety of public during construction activities
- minimising cost arising from damage to existing services and utilities
- minimising disruption from damage existing services and utilities
- minimising project delays
- optimising design of new works by understanding the site constraints
- ensuring safety of workforce during construction activities
-
What techniques are used in carrying out these types of surveys?
Several techniques are available to obtain information on the position of underground features. Primarliy the surveys rely on the effective deployment of near-surface geophysics. Individual techniques are particularly suited to certain environments and will have varying degrees of success and accuracy. It is essential that the appropriate equipment, technique and methodology is used for the specific conditions or situation. The two most commonly used techniques are Electromagnetic Locators - EML (also known as Radio-Frequency locators) and Ground Probing Radar (GPR).
-
What are the limitations of a survey particularly with regard to accuracy and depth of investigation?
Site and ground conditions do affect the quality of data obtained, but as long as these factors are not too limiting then positional and depth accuracies of approximately 50 to 150mm can be expected to a depth of 1.5m below ground level.