Do you know where all of the buried utility lines are located on your San Diego property? If you’re like most people, you probably only have a vague idea, based on where your utility meters are situated. It’s also not something you probably think about often, because why would you? It isn’t until you need to excavate on your property for some reason that you start to think about what might be buried in the areas of the ground you wish to disturb.
Before you start excavating, it would be wise to know where all of your utility lines are located so you can avoid hitting them. Damaging utility lines can not only cause costly damage, it can also be very dangerous to the person doing the excavating if they happen to hit a gas line.
You might have seen advertisements for the “Call Before You Dig” program, which allows you to call 8-1-1 and have someone come out for free to do utility locating. This is a very valuable service for property owners, but in some cases, it may not be sufficient.
First of all, the free utility locating service often has long wait times in San Diego. It could be multiple weeks before a technician can come out and scan your property for buried utilities. If your project is on a tight timeline, you might not have several weeks to wait. Second, the free service only looks for public utility lines, like those owned by the gas company, the water district, and the electrical company. Any other potential hazards are the responsibility of the property owner to locate. Third, the public utility locators are not always very thorough. Their equipment can struggle to find certain utility lines like PVC pipes, and while damaging a PVC water line is not the end of the world, it will take some time and money to repair.
So, what is a property owner to do if they need to locate their buried utilities right away so they can start excavating, or if they want to be sure that they have located all of the buried hazards? The answer is to hire a private company for utility locating in San Diego. A company like this will come to your property and scan the entire area in question. Most utility locating companies use ground penetrating radar (GPR) for this type of work. GPR is very effective at finding all types of buried hazards so you can avoid them (or reroute them, if needed). Not only can they find utility lines, but other buried items as well, such as buried tanks, old concrete footings, and even different types of soil layers.
When you work with a private utility locating company in San Diego, make sure you communicate to their what the goal of the project is, as well as what type of deliverable you need. Most companies will simply mark the ground with spray paint or flags, unless you specifically request a digital file like a KMZ file.
For a reputable utility locating service with fast response times in San Diego, consider a company like Enhanced Scanning.
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