Utility Locating Services
OUR LOCATE SERVICES
WHAT DO WE LOCATE?
SubScan employs an array of equipment and technologies, enabling the precise location of a wide range of utility types and materials.
PLASTIC LINES
METALLIC LINES
WATER
SEWER
COMMS
RECLAIM WATER & IRRIGATION
GAS
ELECTRIC
OUR LOCATING, EXPLAINED
UNDERGROUND UTILITY LOCATING
SubScan specializes in detecting underground private utilities in Pensacola and surrounding cities, using state-of-the-art technology, essential for any excavation or site planning.
Unlike the state-operated one-call system (811), which only marks public utilities up to the service meter and does not provide depths, SubScan identifies utilities beyond this point, often privately owned and not covered by the 811 service. Private utility services not typically addressed by the State One-Call include:
For Residential Areas:
- Locating buried gas lines leading to outdoor amenities such as heated pools or gas grills.
- Locating underground irrigation lines.
- Locating in-ground fencing, such as Invisible Fence locations.
- Locating underground electrical lines to separate structures such as garages or barns.
- Locating private sanitary or stormwater sewer systems, including septic tanks, septic leach fields, sewer laterals, and lift station sewer force mains.
For Commercial Properties:
- Locating underground wiring for lighting systems in parking areas.
- Locating water mains for fire suppression and domestic use.
- Locating Underground Storage Tanks (UST) and fuel lines.
- Scanning soil boring sites before drilling.
SubScan’s Utility Locating Services
The utility locating process at SubScan is comprehensive, involving both electromagnetic equipment and ground-penetrating radar, supplemented by locating sondes for precise detection of underground utilities in Pensacola, Florida, and neighboring cities. Our technicians undergo rigorous training, focusing on delivering accurate locates in a timely fashion. SubScan has extensive experience in diverse settings, including residential, commercial, governmental, fuel station, and industrial sites throughout Northwest Florida.
Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE)
SUE is a practice to determine the reliability of underground utility data. Adhering to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) standard 38-02 enhances design accuracy and minimizes damage risks. This standard classifies utility data quality as follows:
– Quality Level D: Utility information based on records, memories, or visible indications.
– Quality Level C: Adds verified surface utility features to the Level D data.
– Quality Level B: Uses electronic methods for precise horizontal mapping of utilities.
– Quality Level A: Achieves a 3-Dimensional understanding of utility positioning.
Factors influencing the accuracy of utility locating include weather conditions, technological limitations with certain materials, misunderstandings about private versus public utilities, and the soil’s composition and electrical grounding.
Our mission at SubScan is to accurately identify both the type and location of underground utilities, thereby reducing the risk of damage, injury, or worse. Neglecting to use both the state one-call (811) and a private utility locating service like SubScan can lead to serious consequences. Always contact 811 first for public utilities, and then reach out to SubScan for comprehensive detection of all other utilities.
GPR SCANNING
GROUND PENETRATING RADAR
SubScan specializes in detecting underground utilities, voids, and other anomalies using the latest GPR scanning technology, essential for any excavation or site planning.
TANKS
LEACH FIELDS
VOIDS
UNMARKED GRAVES
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a valuable tool in utility location, offering several significant benefits:
- Non-Destructive Method: GPR provides a non-invasive means to locate utilities. Unlike traditional excavation methods, GPR doesn’t require digging or disturbing the ground, preserving the site’s integrity and minimizing the risk of damaging existing utilities.
- Detection of Non-Metallic and Metallic Utilities: GPR can detect both metallic and non-metallic utilities, including plastic, fiberglass, and ceramic pipes and cables. These materials are often undetectable by other utility location methods like electromagnetic locators, making GPR more versatile.
- Depth Estimation: GPR can provide an estimate of the depth of buried utilities, crucial for planning excavation or construction activities and helping to avoid accidental utility strikes.
- Mapping and Documentation: GPR can create detailed maps of underground utilities, invaluable for future reference, maintenance, and planning purposes. This documentation is crucial for urban planning and managing underground infrastructure.
- Identification of Other Subsurface Features: Besides utilities, GPR can identify other subsurface features such as voids, changes in material properties, and disturbances. This capability is particularly useful in assessing the subsurface environment’s condition and planning in areas where records of underground utilities are outdated or unavailable.
SubScan specializes in using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) in Pensacola and surrounding cities for locating and marking utilities and other known or unknown buried objects.
OUR MAPPING
GPS UTILITY MAPPING
SubScan uses a wide array of equipment, including Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and GPS, for utility location and precise utility mapping in Pensacola, Florida.
While traditional utility locating methods are sufficient for areas unlikely to undergo future changes, areas requiring subsequent work benefit greatly from GPS utility mapping. This method provides a lasting and accessible reference, avoiding the expenses associated with repeated underground utility locating and utility marking.
Utilizing data from our utility locating efforts, our GPS utility mapping service crafts a detailed map of your site’s subterranean utilities. This map can be output as a KMZ or KML file for Google Earth integration, or as a shapefile (SHP) for ArcGIS compatibility. Utilities are distinctly marked with different colors and can include essential metadata like latitude, longitude, date, and specific information pertinent to your project. The map can also integrate photographs for enhanced detail.
With GPS utility mapping, the recurring costs and effort of ground penetrating radar (GPR) or electromagnetic utility detection are eliminated. You can simply consult your custom utility map and use a GPS device for precise utility re-identification and measuring, facilitating safe and confident excavation. The accuracy of GPS mapping, within a 3-inch (0.25′) margin, exceeds the precision generally required for most subterranean projects.
Call SubScan today to schedule your utility locating and utility mapping in cities such as: Pensacola, Crestview, Mobile, Destin, Foley, Pensacola Beach, Panama City Beach, Mary Esther, Fort Walton Beach, Pace, Milton, Gulf Breeze, Navarre and more to come!