The Importance of Utility Mapping: Saving You Time, Money and Hassle

By isabelcameron

Many of our towns and cities have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, so anyone doing work on them needs to be careful of what has gone before. In an aesthetic sense, this can mean considering the historic importance of certain sites. In a practical sense, it means knowing what lies underneath a road before you start digging it up. Utility mapping allows excavations to be made of streets and roads without running the risk of damaging vital parts of the local infrastructure, e.g. water mains, sewage systems, telephone lines, etc.

Even trained workers can make mistakes. How many of us have had our day disrupted by work crews cutting through a power cable or water pipe? Such disruptions aren’t just a mild inconvenience; even a power outage that only lasts for a couple of hours can cost the local economy hundreds - if not thousands - of pounds in lost revenue and man hours. Utility mapping ensures the efficiency of operations and that all vital services can still be delivered: or at least, that any necessary disruption can be properly planned for and minimised. Utility detection surveys may also form part of the initial stages of engineering work. Many building projects may require you to undertake utility mapping as part of the initial feasibility study; the feasibility of a new multi-storey car park may be greatly affected if the job will call for the diversion of a major water main or the rewiring of a city centre’s electrical grid.

A utility detection survey combines a record of underground utility lines with key topographic features. You, as the client, will be presented with a colour coded survey containing the location and description of all underground utility lines, as well as other key features (e.g. street furniture, parking metres, telegraph poles). Additional geographical information (e.g. street names, house numbers, building names) are included to make site navigation as simple as possible.

It is ordinary practice for the data in your utility detection survey to be mapped to an arbitrary grid and level datum. For those who have any specific requirements for your utility mapping (e.g. that it be referenced to a certain scale, or that the grid should be divided along certain lines) then a specific grid and level datum can be used. Alternatively, the utility detection survey can be overlaid on an pre-existing topographical survey, offering a clear indication of topographical features and making cross referencing with other studies simple.

It isn’t all about the public, either. Utility mapping can also save councils money in the long term. Knowing the lay of the land in advance means fewer strikes, fewer unexpected diversions, less chance of damaging utilities. A reduction in disruptions means your work can be quick and efficient, avoiding the spiralling costs of work running out of control and over time: not to mention the additional costs of penalties for missing delivery targets.

Utility mapping doesn´t require any additional digging up of the roads; it´s all done from the surface using GPS and radio detection techniques.

Utility detection surveys save you time and money. Disruption to the public is minimised and you reduce the risk of running into any unexpected surprises. Give yourself the strategic advantage; know the lay of the land before you begin your work.

Article Source: http://interpret.zar.vg

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