During construction activities, the lack of reliable underground utility location information can result in costly delays due to conflicts or damages, utility service disruptions, redesigns, liability claims, and injuries.
Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) is a specialized engineering discipline responsible for managing risks associated with below-ground utility locating and mapping, including condition assessments and construction strategies. WGI has over 20 years of experience conducting SUE investigations on behalf of our clients, resulting in time and construction cost savings, and safer construction sites.
Within the ownership and design community, the reasonable starting expectation is subsurface utility locations should exist in plans and records. However, experience often reveals that utility locations are not exactly as recorded, or that records do not fully account for additional buried utility systems or improperly documented system modifications. As a result, SUE is a solution providing vital information.
When used appropriately and performed correctly, SUE identifies existing subsurface utility data, maps underground utility locations, and classifies the data’s accuracy based on standardized quality levels. The collected SUE data allows for developing strategies and making informed design decisions, managing risks, and avoiding utility conflicts and delays. If a utility conflict arises, viable alternatives can be found to resolve the issue before any physical or monetary damage is done.
Combining civil engineering, surveying, geophysics, asset-management technologies, and nondestructive excavation technologies, during the design phase, SUE provides accurate 3D mapping of existing underground utilities. This helps avoid unnecessary relocations, eliminates unexpected conflicts with utilities, and enhances safety during construction.