The industry standard for locating underground utilities is a manual process involving the use of an electromagnetic (EM) wand to detect underground cables and pipes. The detected location is typically recorded by painting or otherwise […]
The Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies(CATT) has just released the report of a survey designed to better understand the current state of subsurface utility engineering (SUE) practices, barriers, and acceptance across Canada. The most […]
Recently Greg Johnston of Sensors and Software gave a very informative webinar on the factors that limit the depth to which ground penetrating radar (GPR) is effective in detecting objects. Greg showed how statistical averaging […]
It is estimated that unreliable location information about underground infrastructure represents a $50 billion drag on the U.S. economy. Comparing the United States and Japan reveals a startling difference in the annual incidents of underground […]
Open data has become a goal for many governments, but is relatively rare among utility and telecom network operators and owners. In Australia several water and wastewater network operators have made the location of their […]
Montana has recently revised its statutes governing the installation of utilities on state highway right-of-ways. The revised statutes require Administrative Rules regarding utility occupancy on state highway right-of-ways. The updated Administrative Rules mandate that as […]
Without accurate maps of underground infrastructure, every construction project has the potential to become a disaster site. Incidents of underground utility damage are more frequent than many people realize. In the U.S. there are between […]
Transmission line inspections are mandatory in North America. Traditionally helicopters are used for these inspections, but with helicopters the risk of accidents is significant and helicopters are costly to maintain and operate. Drone inspections dramatically […]