Locate the Best Underground Utility Location and Damage Prevention Services

Posted by Bred Paul on March 21st, 2017

Public utility systems often run underground. Some of these need to be underground by the very nature of their function, others for convenience and to save the residential areas from congestion and for the purposes of aesthetics. Before digging, local governments often require that the underground systems' locations be denoted and approved, if it is to be in the public right-of-way.

What is underground utility location?
Underground utility location and damage prevention is the process of identifying, and labeling public utility mains that are underground. The examples of public utility resources are lines for electricity distribution, telecommunication,  cable television, fiber optics, traffic lights, street lights, storm drains, water mains, and wastewater pipes.

Color-coding
Different color codes are used to denote different kinds of underground utilities to differentiate one from the another. Apart from this, color codes are used to identify existing underground utilities in construction areas, to protect them from damage during excavation. Colored lines, flags, or both are used to mark the location and denote the type of underground utility.

In the U.S, underground utility location providers use the following Uniform Color Codes for temporary marking of underground utilities:
❏Red : electric power lines, cables, conduit, and lighting cables
❏Orange : telecommunication, alarm or signal lines, cables, or conduit
❏Yellow : natural gas, oil, steam, petroleum, or other gaseous or flammable material
❏Green : sewers and drain lines
❏Blue : drinking water
❏Purple : reclaimed water, irrigation, and slurry lines
❏Pink : temporary survey markings, unknown/unidentified facilities
❏White : proposed excavation limits or route

How do the underground utility locators services work ?
The utility locators provide the clients exact locations and position of underground mains lines by mapping of the underground area and various utilities for safe digging and trenching. Technology, used to perform these tasks, has improved significantly over the years.
In today’s times, the utility locators use  the latest GPR (Ground penetrating Radar) equipment, line locators, magnetic locators, rodders, and sondes to ensure safe digging. For metal pipes and cables, this is often done with electromagnetic equipment consisting of a transmitter and a receiver. For other types of pipe, such as plastic or concrete, other types of radiolocation or modern ground-penetrating radar is used. Since the maps often lack the pinpoint precision needed to ensure clearance, the modern technology and methods are must to get the results.

When you are looking for underground utility locators in Placerville, it is important to hire GPR and UTA certified professionals to get professional quality on every job as these certificates are a testimony to their skills and knowledge.

About The Author: The author is a blogger. He has written about underground utility location and damage prevention services in this article.
For more information, visit: www.bandblocating.com