When taking on a construction project, preparation is everything if you want to keep a project on schedule and on budget. Before you break ground, it’s important to have a fully fleshed out design, secure all needed permits and approvals, and have a detailed contract with a general contractor that outlines every aspect of the project and the cost. Of course, with every major construction project (and even most minor projects), there are unforeseen circumstances that will pop up, but as much as possible, you should do everything you can to mitigate disruptions.
If your construction project involves any sort of digging, trenching, or excavation, you need to bring in someone for utility locating in Fallbrook. A utility locating service can scan the ground, and even concrete slabs, to determine if any utility lines could possibly be disturbed during construction. A good utility locating service can find everything from electrical lines, to gas lines, to water and sewer pipes, and more.
Utility locating should be completed well before the start of the project. That way, if any utility lines need to be relocated, it can be done so in advance. If a utility line can’t be relocated, then an alternative plan may need to be made so it isn’t disturbed.
Hitting something like a PVC water line might not be that big of a deal, since PVC pipes are fairly easy to repair. It will cause a small delay in your timeline, but it probably won’t be too much of an issue. However, hitting something like a gas line could be a much more serious issue. Not only are gas lines more difficult to repair, hitting one could actually cause an explosion that could cause major damage, start a fire, or seriously injure or even kill anyone nearby.
Utility locating is a fairly simple process for a trained technician. Typically, a technician will use ground penetrating radar (GPR), which is a non-destructive locating technology that can find just about all types of buried hazards. GPR equipment can locate buried utility lines, as well as things like septic tanks, wells, and just about anything else that might be buried on your property. GPR can even locate utility lines and structural elements embedded in concrete slabs. So, if your project involves cutting, coring, or trenching into an existing slab, you can avoid hitting embedded utility lines and compromising the slab by damaging the rebar or cables that are supporting it.
Depending on the size of your construction site, utility locating in Fallbrook may only take a couple of hours. The results can be often be delivered while the technician is still onsite. The location of any buried or embedded hazards can be marked directly on the ground or the concrete slab, so workers can clearly see the areas that need to be avoided during the demolition stage of the project.
If you failed to have your construction site scanned, and are ready to start your project any day now, you’ll need to contact a utility locating service in Fallbrook with fast response times, such as Enhanced Scanning. They can typically get a utility locating technician out to any Southern California property within a day or two, and can sometimes provide same-day service.
