Articles

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How Much Does It Cost to Rent or Buy Utility Locating Equipment?

SUMMARY: A typical GPR setup includes a wheeled cart, radar transmitter and receiver, battery, and a digital interface, often a tablet.

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Explaining Microtrenching: A Modern Approach to Installing Subsurface Utilities

SUMMARY: Some utilities require deeper installation to meet safety or regulatory standards, but for others, microtrenching may be a valuable solution.

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Why You Need to Locate Private Underground Utility Lines

Over 60% of buried utility infrastructure is privately owned and managed by individuals, corporations, institutions, or municipalities.

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GPRS scans concrete two miles below the surface

While the GPR technology we use has evolved since 2015, William Johnson’s harrowing story remains a testament to the work ethic of our field team.

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Notes From the Field: My “Real Fun” Day at Comerica Park

Utility locates like Parker's are the unsung foundation of the game. The stadium lights, the massive jumbotron, even the pristine field itself? None of it functions without the unseen network beneath—the conduits, irrigation systems, and electrical lines powering the entire operation.

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A CCTV video pipe inspection provides a comprehensive view of your sewer system, allowing you to visualize problems and proactively plan maintenance & repairs.

Rent vs. Buy vs. Hire a Sewer Scope Service Provider: Video Pipe Inspection

Utilizing high-definition video cameras mounted on remote-controlled robotic crawlers, lateral launch robots, or push cameras, VPI technology enables inspectors to detect cracks, blockages, and system failures within sewer, water, and lateral lines.

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GPRS Trainer Matt Vaillant looks on as trainees learn to identify subtle differences in GPR signal outputs.

The Intelligent Art of Locating Field Insights into Subsurface Investigation Methodology

What appears chaotic at first is in fact a finely tuned practice rooted in precision and methodology.

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Modern EM Locators are based on principles first demonstrated in 1831.

The Evolution of Electromagnetic Utility Scanning

Discovered in 1831, today’s sophisticated electromagnetic induction locators are far more advanced and accurate in helping locate underground utilities.

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GPRS’ NASSCO-certified Video Pipe Inspection Project Managers are trained to the highest standard possible and use only the most advanced equipment in our effort to eliminate all subsurface utility strikes.

How NASSCO-Certified GPRS Video Pipe Inspections Protect Water & Wastewater Systems from the Hidden Threat of Cross Bores

The most common cross bores are in sanitary and storm sewer lines, but they can also occur in water mains, electrical conduits, and the most dangerous version – gas line incursions.

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GPRS conducts drainage surveys using CCTV cameras to discover blockages and pipe defects that could impact your sewer’s efficiency.

How Drainage Surveys Work: A Technical Guide for Municipal and Facility Managers

Routine inspections help detect early-stage issues before they escalate into backups, surface flooding, or infrastructure failures.

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GPRS PMs worked day and night to map all the utilities through 5.4 roadway miles.

GPRS Utility Mapping Enables Safe Power Line Installation Across 5.4-Mile Roadway Corridor

Two Project Managers led round-the-clock operations, overcoming heavy traffic conditions and a dense utility matrix to accurately locate and map underground utilities over a 5.4-mile stretch of urban roadway so that new power lines could be installed.

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GPRS Supports Damage Prevention

CGA Issues Targeted Recommendations to Help General Contractors Prevent Utility Strikes

The report introduces a new industry tool for tracking excavation safety progress and details actionable steps contractors and other stakeholders can take to mitigate subsurface damage risks. It supports CGA’s 50-in-5 Challenge, an initiative to reduce utility damages by 50% over five years.

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GPRS scanned a 10x10 ft. area around each proposed soil boring location under the tarmac so that general contractor James J. Anderson Construction could safely complete 128 cores.

GPRS Ensures Safe Execution of 128 Soil Borings at Philadelphia International Airport

The airport’s nonstop operations required performing scans in high-traffic taxiway zones and introduced logistical challenges.

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Soil boring samples and testing are a key component of Phase II ESAs. Obtaining Soil boring clearances ensures that no subsurface utilities will be struck during sampling.

Why Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs) Are a Crucial Component of Environmental Due Diligence

Updates to ASTM standards underscore the need for comprehensive environmental due diligence, ensuring assessments align with contemporary risk management strategies.

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GPRS provides complimentary SiteMap Personal access to all its customers.

What to Expect When You Order an Underground Utility Locating Survey

Here’s what AEC professionals should expect when they hire a local utility locating company near them to conduct a subsurface utility assessment, based on GPRS’ processes.

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The Critical Role of Leak Detection in Facility Management

Undetected leaks private or public pressurized water utilities or fire suppression systems can lead to significant financial losses, structural damage, and compliance violations for facilities managers. As infrastructure ages, the demand for precise and efficient leak detection methods will only increase.

Leaks in fire loops can impact safety, increase costs, and lead to code violations.

Fire suppression systems are integral to a building’s safety, ensuring rapid response to fires and minimizing damage. However, these systems rely on consistent functionality, and leaks can compromise their effectiveness, leading to increased repair costs, regulatory non-compliance, and property damage.

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The consequences of excavating without verifying subsurface conditions are well-documented: costly utility strikes, project delays, service disruptions, injuries, and fatalities. Yet according to a national survey conducted by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), 46% of Americans still plan to dig without contacting 811.

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The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation its highest grades to date for transportation, roadways, and wastewater management, among others.

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Post-tension (PT) cables reinforce concrete structures, providing flexibility and strength that allow for taller, safer, and more efficient construction. When grouped into clusters of three to five cables, they are referred to as banded PT cables. These configurations significantly improve slab strength and are commonly used in elevator shafts, parking garages, transfer slabs, and beam-supported floors.

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Leaking underground storage tanks pose significant risks to property owners. We explain how we find them and map them to help mitigate brownfield risk.

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Maintaining and upgrading aging campus infrastructure demands precise, verifiable subsurface information. When Arizona Pipeline Co. initiated a water line installation project across Gavilan College’s 150-acre campus in Gilroy, California, the absence of reliable as-builts presented a critical risk to project timelines, budgets, and safety.

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Push cameras and dye testing help find Nashville restaurant’s sewer problems

Initial inspections in the dishwasher room and parking garage showed no obstructions or anomalies, and multiple complementary methodologies were required.

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Connector lines – responsible for transmitting electricity from the site’s solar panels – required immediate replacement to restore the 1,200-acre solar complex to full operational capacity.

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A leading non-profit retirement community in Pennsylvania engaged GPRS to locate a suspected water line leak. The result: a comprehensive, field-verified utility map for the entire 334-acre campus.

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Municipalities increasingly require pre and post-project CCTV inspections after horizontal directional drilling to detect cross bores and protect public safety.

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GPRS Project Manager David Castro led a comprehensive infrastructure visualization effort that combined Video Pipe Inspection (VPI) and 3D laser scanning to deliver a complete understanding of the site conditions before any construction began.

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GPR and EM locating were used to successfully identify a buried utility tunnel and confirm a leak location that had been preliminarily detected via thermal imaging

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Not all utilities are registered with 811, so additional private utility locating services were required to ensure drilling clearances before excavation.

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Enhancing Safety & Budget Efficiency with the Right Technology

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The role of subsurface utility investigations in construction, the use of GPR and EM locators, and the importance of skilled operators.

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A System that Saves Lives

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These incidents are preventable, and we can show you how.

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Hire a Professional So It’s Done Right The First Time

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If Seeing is Believing, Potholing May Be Your Best Bet. But At What Cost?

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As the U.S. begins spending $1.2 trillion in infrastructure funds, avoiding utility strikes could save more than $40 billion annually

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And How GPRS Uses Them to Keep Your Projects On Time, On Budget, and Safe