SurvTech Solutions, Inc.
Surveying Today with Tomorrow's Technology
Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE)
Non-destructive Pipe Thickness Testing &
Concrete Imaging
SurvTech Solutions' Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) division provides services throughout the United States with offices in Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana. We are equipped with a multitude of tools for utility mapping investigations, including ground-penetrating radars (GPR), electromagnetic devices (EM), ultrasonic pipe thickness gauges, and concrete imaging scanners. We own and operate five vacuum excavation rigs. These rigs range from a F-550 4x4 250-gallon wet/dry vacuum truck to custom-made vacuum excavation trailers that can be easily towed by F-150’s and work in tight spaces, where larger trucks would be problematic.
Subsurface Utility Location Crews Near You
With nine active and ready to deploy SUE crews in locations like Tampa, Orlando, Lakeland, Mulberry, Mobile, Fort Pierce, and New Orleans there is a team available to meet your needs. All SurvTech SUE crews are equipped with survey-grade GPS and total stations for data collection, allowing our findings to be easily added to your base map. Our services meet or exceed the standards set forth by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) under section 38-02 for conducting SUE. Our personnel are background-checked, OSHA 40 hour, Hazwoper, MSHA, intermediate and advanced Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) and CPR/first aid certified, as well as TWIC and MICCS (drug tested). We are badged for working at sensitive and secure facilities, such as military installations, utility plants, and active ports. SurvTech offers turnkey solutions for all your mapping needs, including mapping of above ground, below ground, and underwater features from the terrestrial, mobile, and aerial platforms. SurvTech is built upon a foundation of quality people equipped with technology. We look forward to providing utility Designation and Verification mapping services on your next project.
SurvTech is also a geophysical mapping firm, meaning we also have access to a wide array of technology and equipment that other firms may not have.
Those technologies include:
• Lower Frequency GPR (100 MHz)
• Electrical Resistivity Imaging (ERI)
• Seismic Technology
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Save Money with Subsurface Utility Engineering
SUE is crucial to any construction or remodeling site as it prevents the encounter of unknown utilities in the ground, reducing the occurrence of costly relocations, project delays and avoidable accidents. A recent study by Purdue University and the Federal Highway Administration found that for every dollar spent on SUE there was a quantified savings of $4.62.
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Four SUE quality levels are available to meet your needs
Each quality level includes the levels below it.
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Utility Quality Level A: Underground Utility Locating (Test Hole). Subsurface utilities are safely located, exposed, measured, and mapped using nondestructive vacuum excavation equipment to establish precise horizontal and vertical location data. The SurvTech Solutions team marks utility locations on site to make construction safer for all workers and the public. Locations are typically marked with color coded paint and flags. Site photographs and field sketches are also provided. This is the highest level of accuracy and is recommended for complex projects that need more accuracy and want to reduce risk.
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Utility Quality Level B: Utility Designation. Surface geophysical sensing technologies like GPR are utilized to locate and mark underground utilities, and then tie their location to known data points on the project site. The professionally collected field data is then mapped onto plan documents.
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Utility Quality Level C: Visible Surface Feature Utility Survey. Utility surface feature data is obtained from surveying and plotting aboveground utility features. Level C data supplements Level D data and identifies errors and omissions in record information.
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Utility Quality Level D: Record Research and Data Collection. Records research performed and verbal information is collected. Quality Level D provides a general idea for the overall congestion of utilities, rather than a comprehensiveness solution. Accuracy of this information is uncertain.
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SurvTech SUE services are performed in accordance with ASCE CI-38-02, but can be modified to meet your needs.
SUE Equipment
Our subsurface utility locating personnel are equipped with the following equipment:
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Sensors and Software GPR Cart LMX 100 (250MHz)
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Sensors and Software GPR Cart LMX 200 (250MHz)
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Proceq Concrete Imaging GPR - GP8800 (Stepped-frequency continuous-wave (SFCW) GPR (400-6000MHz)
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Proceq Concrete Imaging GPR - GP8000 (Stepped-frequency continuous-wave (SFCW) GPR (200-4000MHz)
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GSSI Utility Scan DF GPR Cart (Dual Frequency – 300 & 800 MHz)
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GSSI SIR 4000 GPR Cart (300 & 400 MHz)
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GSSI SIR 3000 GPR Cart (100 MHz)
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Metrotech Vivax vLocPro2 and LocPro3 Locators
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Metrotech Vivax vLoc DM2 150watt transmitter (Cathodic Protection Defect Mapper)
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Olympus 38DL Plus - Non-Destructive Pipe Thickness Gauge
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AGI Supersting - electrical resistivity (ERI)
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F550 – Custom Wet/Dry 250gal Vacuum Excavation rigs
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Custom Utilivac/Airman vacuum excavation towable rigs.
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800-foot traceable Duck Roder
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Prototek HD-80 DuraSonde 8KHz (good for -50’+/-)
Pipe Thickness Testing
SurvTech performs pipe thickness testing for municipalities around the southeast using Olympus 38DL Plus pipe thickness gauges.
High Resolution GPR
Concrete Scanning
Look before you cut, drill or core a concrete slab. Save time and money by avoiding rebar, electrical, communication conduits, and post tension cables. SurvTech has the personnel, equipment and experience to avoid mistakes that would cost you time, money and employee safety.
SurvTech personnel use a combination of Ground Penetrating Radar, Electronic Pipe and Cable Locators, and Electromagnetics to image concrete accurately and efficiently.
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is the most accurate and cost effective method to image concrete. SurvTech personnel utilize GPR to horizontally locate the item, then mark or even map the item, similar to a concrete xray. GPR also allows for the estimated depth of the found item. SurvTech utilizes GSSI GPR for concrete imaging, and GSSI software to produce 2D or 3D maps, depending on the the requirements of the project.
Another method is to utilize electronic pipe and cable locators. Locators can be utilized in passive or non-passive mode. Lines can have signals transmitted through them, and then the signal can be detected by the locator. In passive mode an energized lines can be detected using eight different methods, fault find mode, SD (showing direction of current) mode, and six defined frequencies that are common to communications and electric conduits.
Other methods can also be utilized to scan concrete, including electromagnetics, ultrasonic tomography, radiography x-rays, and seismic tomography.
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GPR Services
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Measuring concrete slab thickness
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Void detection
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Sewer Lateral Inspection
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Rebar scanning and locating
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Post tension cable locating
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Utility mapping and conduit locating
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Depth of cover measurements
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Ground penetrating radar services cost a lot less than unnecessary construction or redoing work so contact Survtech Solutions for all your underground utility locating service needs.
Subsurface Utility Engineering Services
Do you need subsurface utilities designated, verified and/or mapped? Subsurface utility engineering is better when you have the data and information to locate your utilities, scan your concrete, and measure pipe thickness. Contact the Florida SUE crews at SurvTech Solutions to get started.