When adding to a property or building a new structure on used land, it’s important to identify any underground or hidden utilities before anything else. Utility locating equipment will help you find utilities that may be concealed from plain view, such as electric connections, communication cables, and gas lines.
What’s the best equipment for locating utilities?
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is one of the widely used non-destructive testing tool for locating underground utilities. It uses radar to identify subsurface levels, concrete structures, pipe systems, and water mains. It’s the most accurate and reliable way to find and locate changes in electrical functions and magnetic properties on the ground and surface using electromagnetic wave propagation. As such, it is widely used in surveying land and creating forensic reports. One example is the Proceq’s Subsurface Utility GS8000. Equipped with an advanced positioning system with centimetre accuracy and smart visualisation, the GS8000 unit does not only locate buried services, it places them clearly on a google maps style view during the scanning operations.
Flexibility for every application
High-quality utility locating equipmentis versatile for a wide range of applications:
Utility location - Find water, power, gas, telecom, and other underground utilities without requiring tracer wires. Advanced features like geolocation and auto-tagging make the results more informative and helpful to surveyors.
Archaeological survey - Identify archaeological properties underground, such as buried tunnels, artefacts, inorganic and organic remains, and chambers.
Geotechnical - GPR helps characterise soil layering and types. It may also help you find the best spots to drill boreholes safely around any utility.
Environmental - Find soil strata and water levels.
Structural assessment - Use high-frequency data to find small targets, such as rebar throughout oversized areas for bridge decks and slabs. Utility locating equipmentalso helps in locating deep foundations.
Cemetery mapping and grave location - Create accurate gravesite maps to enhance management and ensure the accuracy of records.
Law enforcement -GPR may help detect and find hidden assets and contraband.
Significant improvements in GPR technology make it an ideal utility locating equipmentfor various applications. The latest models are easier to use and more intuitive, with high-resolution scanning and the ability to penetrate greater depths, making them practical for concrete scanning. Likewise, they have improved efforts in concrete scanning, allowing users to successfully map congested spaces with several layers of post-tensioning and steel reinforcement.
About the Author:
PCTE supplies a range of equipment from around the world to offer you a one-stop shop with all the latest equipment. Concrete Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) comprises testing a property of concrete, largely without damaging the concrete, to assess some parameter that either directly or indirectly provides a required characteristic of the concrete or its embedment. For more details, you can contact us on the website.
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