Cable Location Services
The key to any successful project is to plan ahead and locate all underground assets before commencing. This prevents damage to existing underground services, costly project blow outs and delays, thus adding value to your bottom line.
Cable Locates & Consulting employ a variety of methods including Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), vacuum excavation as well as standard pipe and cable locating techniques. Our accredited locators provide on-site information and field reports are provided for every job.
Experience:
Cable Locates Operation Manager, Mark Dentice, has over 20 years experience in this industry. His expertise is recognized with all the major utility providers throughout Western Australia.
In compliance with legislative, licensing and permit requirements, cable locates ensures all insurances (Public Liability, Workers Compensation, etc) are current. All our location technicians are accredited in the following as a minimum pre-onsite requirement.
- Telstra Plant Certificate
- Blue card
- Marcsta
- Alcoa passes
- Current Drivers License
Our staff also complete a defensive driving course and do regular relevant Health & Safety Inductions as/when required for specific projects.
Consultation Service:
Mark Dentice expertise in interpreting asset plans and his close liaison with the various Utility Providers offers valued insight and guidance to consultants. Ensuring their project designs have taken into account existing underground services, which minimize delays and costly variations to project tenders.
Interpretation of Dial Before You Dig Plans:
Mark Dentice has over 20years experience in interpreting "Dial Before You Dig" Plans and has expert understanding of the various utility provider’s "code of practice and procedures" when working in close proximity of existing underground assets. We are able to organize the dial before you dig plans on behalf of clients if requested. An Example of a Plan of services found after location
Project Supervision:
Cable Locates Operations Manager, Mark Dentice, supervises the location, excavation, protection and re-instatement procedures of important optic fibre cable crossings throughout Western Australia on behalf of Telstra and Optus.
Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline project supervising crossing of the main Telstra optic feeding the North West of Western Australia near Karratha.
Electronic Line Tracing:
This is the most common practice in locating underground metallic cables. An inductive signal is induced along the cable/pipe allowing the route to be defined. The service is marked with coloured paint or pegs Indicating type of service and direction. This can then be verified, by safe pot holing techniques (e.g. shovel or vacuum pot holing) if required.
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
GPR has become a regular tool in the location of buried pipe and cable. We have a standard and a rough terrain cart. It is advantageous in detecting non-metallic services, and services under road ways. GPR exploration is dependent on soil conductivity and composition. Fortunately most pipes and cables are buried at shallow depths and GPR can detect a variety of materials (e.g. asbestos, concrete, ceramic, and PVC).Vacuum pot holing:
The visual verification of underground utilities can be done safely, quickly and with minimal environmental disturbance with our vacuum excavator. Cable Locates vacuum excavator is mounted on a 4x4 truck and uses a combination of compressed air and/or high pressure water to break up the ground and vacuum to remove the soil to expose the underground service safely.
This Vacuum excavation technique is our preferred method when exposing direct buried optic fibre. It can excavate vertically and horizontally making it a versatile tool in difficult to access areas.
Vacuum excavation is also ideal for safely exposing and/or removing tree roots that are in the close proximity of cables.
Once the service has been potholed a capped 90mm storm water pipe can be placed directly on top of the underground service at strategic points. The pipe is then colour coded to indicate type of service, and size and depth of the service can be clearly written on the pipe. This not only provides a clear visual for contractors working around the services. The information can also be transferred to surveyor’s plans or project engineers for future planning purposes.