A premier green space on one of the country’s most historic university campuses was made possible thanks to GPRS’ 99.8% accurate utility locating and NASSCO-certified sewer line inspection services.
The school was looking to transform a vacant lot next to its football stadium into 20 acres of enhanced green spaces for study and relaxation, tailgating, entertainment, and recreation for students and visitors. Key features of the park would include additional and enhanced tailgating space, water features, an outdoor amphitheater, a performance pavilion, dedicated media utilities for national broadcasts, permanent Distinguished Alumni recognition, and improved infrastructure.
The most visually striking element of the green space’s design was the large water feature in the center. To build this and other elements of the project, the university and its contractor knew that they would need to relocate at least some of the existing buried utilities in the area.
“There were some existing drainage pipes that were already there,” explained GPRS Project Manager Alec Bacon, one of several GPRS team members that assisted in locating and mapping the buried infrastructure on the job site. “So, they wanted [us] to come out and inspect that, and then we also had another Project Manager on site locating the rest of the buried utilities in the area.”
Bacon began by deploying GPRS’ video pipe inspection service, which utilizes remote-controlled sewer inspection rovers and push-fed sewer scopes equipped with CCTV cameras and sondes: instrument probes that are detectable from the surface with electromagnetic (EM) locators.
Through these comprehensive sewer camera services, our NASSCO-certified Project Managers can not only map your sewer and stormwater systems; we can also inspect them for defects and damage including inflow/infiltration (I/I), clogs, and cross bores.
Bacon located and mapped the drainage lines under the vacant lot that would soon become the park, so the school’s contractor could properly excavate the lines and relocate them away from where the pond would soon be dug. He also was able to provide a detailed, NASSCO-compliant report with photo and video evidence of the lines’ condition, so the university could determine which lines needed replaced or repaired, and which ones they could tie into as they built infrastructure to support the water feature and surrounding park.
“[We did not find] much that would cause concerns, or anything that needed to be replaced,” Bacon said.
GPRS also provided utility locating services, utilizing ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic (EM) locating to find and map all other utilities within the job site.
GPR is a non-destructive imaging technology that utilizes radio waves to locate objects buried underground or embedded within a surface such as a concrete slab. The GPR scanner emits the radio signal into the surface, then detects the interactions between that signal and the buried objects. The interactions are plotted onto a readout as a series of hyperbolas that vary in size and shape depending on the type of material that was located.
GPRS Project Managers are specially trained to interpret these readouts to determine the type of utility located and provide you with an estimated depth for the line.
To complement our GPR scanning, we also employ EM locators. Rather than detecting the buried utility itself, these devices detect the electromagnetic signals radiating from metallic pipes and cables. These signals can come from the locator’s transmitter applying current to the pipe, or from current flow in a live electrical cable. They can also result from a conductive pipe acting as an antenna and re-radiating signals from stray electrical fields and communications transmissions.
GPRS’ comprehensive subsurface damage prevention services resulted in an accurate and complete map of the buried infrastructure, allowing for the park project to stay on time, on budget, and safe.
GPRS was proud to help Intelligently Visualize The Built World® for the university and its partners.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What do I get when I hire GPRS to conduct a utility locate?
Our Project Managers flag and paint our findings directly on the surface. This method of communication is the most accurate form of marking when excavation is expected to commence within a few days of service.
GPRS also uses a global positioning system (GPS) to collect data points of findings. We use this data to generate a plan, KMZ file, satellite overlay, or CAD file to permanently preserve results for future use. GPRS does not provide land surveying services. If you need land surveying services, please contact a professional land surveyor. Please contact us to discuss the pricing and marking options your project may require.
Can GPRS locate PVC piping and other non-conductive buried utilities?
GPR scanning is exceptionally effective at locating all types of subsurface materials. There are times when PVC pipes do not provide an adequate signal to ground penetrating radar equipment and can’t be properly located by traditional methods. However, GPRS Project Managers are expertly trained in multiple methods of utility locating.
What size sewer and storm pipes can GPRS inspect?
Our elite, NASSCO-certified VPI Project Managers have the capabilities to inspect pipes from 2” in diameter and up.
What deliverables does GPRS offer when conducting a sewer pipe inspection?
GPRS is proud to offer WinCan reporting to our Video Pipe Inspection clients. Maintaining sewers starts with understanding sewer condition, and WinCan allows GPRS Project Managers to collect detailed, NASSCO-compliant inspection data. GPRS Project Managers not only inspect the interior condition of sewer pipes, laterals, and manholes – they can also provide a map of their location. The GPRS Mapping & Modeling Department can provide detailed GPS overlays and CAD files. Our detailed WinCan/NASSCO reports contain screenshots of the interior condition of the pipe segments that we inspect, as well as a video file for further evaluation, documentation, and/or reference.
