GPR Utility Locating Services – Overview

by Maria Williams Online Marketing Specialist

Before starting any project – excavation or construction – it is wise to hire GPR services to perform utility locating on the site. It is a significant first step that must be performed if you plan a project that will involve digging up through the ground.

What is GPR for Utility Locating?

Ground Penetrating Radar is a non-destructive method that utilizes radar pulses to image the subsurface. It sends radar pulses into the ground and receives them back to create an image of the utilities below ground. The primary purpose of GPR is to find all metallic as well as for non-metallic utilities. It detects variations in dielectric properties in the subsurface that help it with the locating process. It is used to locate buried utility lines and structures, changes in material properties, and detect subsurface objects. It is ideal for providing subsurface mapping for abandoned and unknown areas.

Applications

GPR utility locating services are commonly used at universities, airports, and schools for detecting underground utilities. It minimizes the likelihood of a gas pipe being hit or other similar issues during groundworks, limiting the disruption and impact to the community and other users.

Why Hire These Services?

In today's ever-changing infrastructure, the use of metallic and non-metallic utilities is becoming more and more prevalent. Because of this, the need for utility locating services is ever increasing. Hiring professionals to map subsurface utilities leads to speeding up the construction or excavation project. You no longer have to dig slowly and carefully. It's always better to prevent the problem before it occurs. GPR utility locating contractors use advanced methods to help you see, localize, and identify the types of utilities in the ground. In this way, they help you ensure safety as well as save money and time through:

• Preventing interruption during work.

• Localization of utility lines for further planning.

• Avoiding repair costs and more.

Apart from identifying subsurface utilities, you will get a full coverage of your gas pipes, storage tanks, and voids. You also need these services to scan for any dangerous materials in the ground. Having the full coverage package means no need to worry further.

Services Offered

GPR utility locating contractors offer a wide range of services. By hiring these services, you can be confident knowing what's under the surface throughout your project. Some of the key services include:

• Pipeline leak locating.

• Verification of paving material thickness.

• Identification of structural problems, e.g. sub-base settlement, concrete cover, rebar placement, and voids.

• Concrete thickness verification, markup and mapping of rebar location, spacing, and size.

• Septic system, pipe, cistern, and well locating.

• Underground storage tank detection.

• Utility locating and mapping of metallic as well as non-metallic infrastructure.

During any excavation or construction project, locating the utilities before you begin is a best practice. Damaging any critical utility services, e.g. gas piping, power and water lines, etc. during a project is costly and potentially dangerous. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you hire GPR utility locating services from an experienced contractor so you can have much-needed peace of mind for your project.