Working at an industrial site, it is critical that buried utilities be properly located and identified to avoid damage to property and eliminate risk of injury to workers performing excavations. A/I/DATA’s track record has been excellent in identifying the depth and alignment of utilities that we know we have, as well as unknown utilities whose placement records may have been lost over time.
Patrick S. Norton, P.E., M.ASCE
Project Manager
Constellation Energy Generation Group
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SUE FAQ
What is SUE?
Is there a Standard Practice?
Who is Qualified to Provide SUE?
What is Designating?
What is Locating?
How Much Does It Cost?
What product do I get?
How Do You Contract for Those Services?
What is SUE?
Subsurface Utility Engineering, or SUE, is a branch of engineering practice that involves managing certain risks associated with utility mapping at appropriate quality levels, utility coordination, utility relocation design and coordination, utility condition assessment, communication of utility data to concerned parties, utility relocation cost estimates, implementation of utility accommodation policies, and utility design.
Is there a Standard Practice?
The American Society of Civil Engineers adopted CI/ASCE 38-02 The Standard Guideline for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data (ASCE 38-02) in 2002. It is our practice to conform to it when providing service to our Clients.
Who is Qualified to Provide SUE?
According to the Federal Highway Administration, SUE expertise should be evaluated on the basis of competence, experience, equipment, timeliness, financial capacity and insurability.
What is Designating?
Designating is defined in ASCE 38-02 as “the process of using a surface geophysical method or methods to interpret the presence of a subsurface utility and to mark its approximate horizontal position (its designation) on the ground surface.” (Note: Utility owners and contractors sometimes call this process “locating.”)
What is Locating?
Locating is defined by ASCE 38-02 as “the process of exposing and recording the precise vertical and horizontal location of a utility.”
How Much Does It Cost?
The cost of SUE services depends on a wide variety of factors including but not limited to the quality level of data desired, the number and density of utilities present, the availability of existing utility records, the project area and geography, geophysical site conditions and the desired degree of survey documentation.
According to industry sources, the costs of obtaining designating throughout a project site and locating at sufficient locations to identify critical utility conflicts are about 1% of a typical highway and construction budget or about 10% of a typical highway design budget. Costs in urban areas are greater than in rural areas.
What Products Do I Get?
A/I/DATA produces documentation of the results of its work in suitable formats that vary in formality. Hand drawn sketches and documentation are routinely created to record the results of field investigations. For design purposes, the field data is also collected using conventional and GPS based survey instruments and then converted to a digital map using CAD software and techniques. CAD files are submitted to the client and or his engineer.
What Are the Benefits of SUE?
- Reduction in unforeseen utility conflicts and relocations
- Reduction in delays due to utility cuts
- Reduction in project delays due to utility relocates
- Reduction in claims and change orders
- Improvement in contractor productivity and quality
- Reduction in utility companies' cost to repair damaged facilities
- Increased efficiency of surveying activities by elimination of duplicate surveys
- Inducement of savings in risk management and insurance
For more information, please visit:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/sueindex.cfm
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/design/sue/suebrochure.cfm
How Do You Contract for Those Services?
Call (888)-686-5091 or send an email request to mmaguire@aidatainc.com or jberrettini@aidatainc.com.
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