Using Advanced Cable and Pipe Locating Services to Ensure the Integrity of Your Underground Utilitie

For cable and pipe locating, utility locating technologies measure electrical conductivity, magnetism, rigidity, and other parameters. Some of these properties may be altered or improved by the company providing pipe location services, who may use miniature transmitters, conductors, and other means to better distinguish the underground utility from its environment and make it easier to detect.

The most commonly used instruments for cable and pipe locating are pipe and cable locators. Lower frequency locators can penetrate deeper into the ground, but they require more power. The use of low frequency by pipe location services, on the other hand, tends to excite other nearby conductors, increasing the likelihood of a correct interpretation. Higher frequency is required for less conductive utilities to propagate over long distances. However, at a lower frequency, the signal will travel a shorter distance. Utilities that are buried deep and have poor conductivity are one of the most difficult aspects of cable and pipe locating. These include cast iron pipes with a large number of non-welded joints. Pipe location services, as a result, require specialised instruments and tools to detect all such difficult-to-find utilities. Pipe and cable locators can detect and trace utilities buried up to 20 feet underground. Sonders, in conjunction with pipe and cable locators, may be used by cable and pipe locating services to increase their effective depth of penetration to 50 feet or more.

GPR and Lidar for detecting underground utilities

Aussie Hydro-Vac Services uses advanced technologies such as ground penetrating radar to provide the most accurate cable and pipe locating services (GPR). For its cable and pipe locating services, its trained operators combine successive scans to create a tomographic image of underground cables and pipes. The company's pipe location services enable surveyors and other professionals to effectively use GPR technology for cable and pipe locating. Aussie Hydro-Vac Services technicians providing pipe location services can capture above and below ground scans simultaneously using Lidar (light detection and ranging) and GPR to create a complete 3D model of all existing underground infrastructure, greatly facilitating planning, design, and construction. Using an electromagnetic (EM) detection wand in combination with GNSS and digital capture, the company's technicians can keep an accurate record of cable and pipe locating services.

Road salt used for deicing is absorbed into the soil surrounding the roadway, increasing ground conductivity. This can make it difficult for cable and pipe locating services to detect a metallic utility while also making pipe locating services detect a non-metallic utility easier. In areas with high moisture or a high water table, detecting any kind of utility may be impossible unless it is large, relatively shallow, empty, or watertight.

Terrain conductivity or TC method

Pipe location services detect such utilities using the terrain conductivity (TC) method. The TC method can be used to locate septic systems, particularly in dry soil. The TC method may also be used to locate buried tanks, vault covers, and wall shafts. To locate metallic utilities in a non-congested, dry environment, TC can be an effective tool for cable and pipe locating. However, interpreting data from TC is more difficult than interpreting data from pipe and cable locators. Aussie Hydro-Vac Services utilises technicians who are well-versed in interpreting TC data. Although data can be interpreted remotely by another operator, accurate positional data must be available at all times during data collection in order for TC data to be relied on. The TC method's success in utility detection is frequently limited to 20 feet.

Using high pressure water jetting

Aussie Hydro-Vac Services offers pipe location services in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and other parts of Australia, employing a wide range of cable and pipe locating equipment and technologies. The information obtained from cable and pipe locating is provided to building managers, who can use it for records management, excavation planning, and infrastructure development. Aussie Hydro-Vac Services offers a variety of nozzle options for pipe location services that use high pressure water jetting to do underground excavation without damaging underground cables, pipes, and other underground utilities.

CCTV inspection surveys for testing and evaluating the condition of pipes and cables for pipe location services and drainage systems eliminate the need for digging and cutting whenever checking the condition is required. Aussie Hydro-Vac Services' technology provides a clear picture for cable and pipe locating services to assess ongoing maintenance work.

Nondestructive digging for locating utilities

Apart from pipe location services, Aussie Hydro-Vac Services also offers drain and culvert cleaning, vacuum excavation and non-destructive digging, industrial cleaning and shutdown, emergency response spills, industrial marine services, and more. Aussie Hydro-Vac Services provides a variety of technical services, including geotech and pavement investigation, subsurface engineering and maintenance, drone photography, and more. For utility detection and non-destructive digging, the company employs a variety of equipment and vehicles, including an all-terrain medium vacuum excavation unit, a tight access vacuum excavation unit, CCTV and geotech vans, and Kaiser recycling unit, and more.

Contact Aussie Hydrovac for waste management solutions with a focus on sustainability. The company will dispose of your vacuumed-up soil, sand and other waste in the most environmentally sustainable way.