Underground Utility Locating Services in CT, NY, NJ, MA, RI

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Mark the Location & Depth of Privately Owned Underground Utilities

Our utility locating services can help you determine the location and depth of privately owned underground utilities before you dig, drill, or design your next project. By using a customized eight-step utility locating process and a combination of cable and pipe locator and ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology, we are capable of detecting the following underground utility types and utility materials.

Utility Types

Types of Underground Utilities Capable of Being Located

Utility Materials

Copper Wires
Aluminum Wires
Fiber Optic Wires
Steel Pipes
Ductile Iron Pipes
Cast Iron Pipes
Concrete Pipes
Reinforced Concrete Pipes
Clay Pipes
Terracotta Pipes
Polyethylene (PE) Pipes
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Pipes
Cross-linked Polyethylene (PEX) Pipe

The 811 Public One Call System

Prior to digging or drilling on public or private property the responsible person must call 811, a national organization that is responsible for the damage prevention of publicly owned underground utilities. Upon receiving this call, a notification message is sent out to all utility companies and municipalities that own services in the town work is going to be performed in. As soon as this message is received, technicians are mobilized to the site within at least 48 hours to mark the location of underground utilities running near or through the work area. Once these lines have been marked out, digging or drilling can legally begin.

Why Private Utility Locating Services Are Needed

Since its inception, this program has been a huge success. It has reduced the risk of personal injury and saved utility companies, municipalities, and property owners countless millions of dollars in utility repair costs. Despite the program's many successes, however, it suffers from the following limitations:

Not all utility companies and municipalities participate in the program
Only underground utilities documented on asbuilts will be marked out
The high volume of daily locates often causes mistakes to be made
Non-metallic, abandoned, and unknown lines cannot be located
The depth of underground utilities is not provided
The technicians have no direct contact with the excavator or driller
Non-conductive utilities are marked using asbuilts, which are often outdated and inaccurate
Each utility type is marked by a different company, making it impossible for their techs to obtain a holistic view of the site
Privately owned utilities--which constitute 65% of all underground utilities in the United States--are not marked at all

Our utility locating services can help combat the aforementioned limitations and, most importantly of all, provide drillers, excavators, and property owners with the location and depth of privately owned underground utilities outside the jurisdiction of the public 811 system.

Six Utility Locating Survey Design Options

In order to handle a wide variety of different types of projects, we offer our clients six different survey design options. Feel free to choose the option that best fits your needs. If you are not sure which one that is, we can recommend one for you after learning more about your project.

Single Line

When a single underground utility line needs to be located, which is often the case for residential and small commercial projects, we can limit our mark out to only this one line.

Multiple Lines

Multiple Underground Utility Line Mark Out

When more than one underground utility line needs to be located, which is often the case for large residential and most commercial projects, we can expand our mark out to include each one of these lines.

Trench Line Clearance

Trench Line Underground Utility Clearance

When an electrical, telecommunication, water, gas, or sewer line is going to be installed, in order to save time and money we can confine our utility mark out to an area surrounding the proposed trench line.

Borehole Clearance

When drilling in one spot, such as for the installation of a new sign post, grounding rod, bollard, monitoring well, or soil boring, we can confine our utility mark out to a 20' x 20' area surrounding this one location.

Partial Property

When excavation or drilling is going to be performed within one small section of a large property, or a new construction project is being designed there, in order to save time and money we can confine our utility mark out to this one area of the property.

Full Property

When a complete picture of the underground site infrastructure is needed, we can expand our utility mark out to include the entire property. This is the survey design of choice for land surveyors who are in the process of creating a civil survey map.

Three Levels of Utility Locating Service

In addition to offering six different survey design options, we also offer three different levels of service. Feel free to choose the level of service that best fits your needs. If you are not sure which one that is, we can recommend one for you.

Level 1 - Field Markings

This is our least complex and cheapest level of service. The location and depth of underground utilities are marked on the ground with colored paint and/or flags, and a consultation is performed with an on-site representative to explain the results of the survey.

Level 2 - Field Markings & Written Report

This is our mid-range level of service. The location and depth of underground utilities are marked on the ground with colored paint and/or flags; a consultation is performed with an on-site representative to explain the results of the survey; and a written utility locating report (PDF), explaining and documenting the results of the survey, is sent via email or a Google Drive shared link.

Report (Public) ULS L2 - Partner Engineering and Science - 46 Payne Rd.pdf

Level 3 - Field Markings, Written Report, & Utility Map

This is our most complex, time consuming, and expensive level of service. The location and depth of underground utilities are marked on the ground with colored paint and/or flags; a consultation is performed with an on-site representative to explain the results of the survey; and a written utility locating report and underground utility map (PDF), explaining the results of the survey and depicting the location and depth of underground utilities, is sent via email or a Google Drive shared link. These documents can then be used as a guide when digging or drilling or during the design phase of your new construction project. Please note: we are not certified land surveyors, so the marks will only be an approximation of where they are located in the field. If you need exact locations, please contact a state certified professional land surveyor to obtain that information.

Utility Map (Public) UL L3 - URS Corp - Jiffy Lube #896.pdf

The Benefits of Using Our Services

Reduce the risk of personal injury
Avoid damage to underground utilities
Eliminate costly mid-project repairs and delays
Preserve landscaped areas, asphalt, and sidewalks
Minimize the amount of exploratory digging
Increase the ease of excavation
Gain peace of mind

Additional Information

For more information about our underground utility locating services, please visit the utility locating process, utility locating projects, and utility locating technology pages.

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