GPS Goes Underground

The city of Steubenville, Ohio, recently received $79,500 in funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission through the Ohio Rural Community Assistance program in order to purchase Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology to map out underground utilities. By obtaining up-to-date mapping of water, sewer, and even power lines, authorities can better manage the city’s resources and save millions in damages. They can keep track of service and inspection records, update system changes, and locate utility-related devices, such as valves and manhole covers to improve efficiency and save lives. And Ohio is not the only state getting in on the act.

Virginia’s GPS Pilot Program to Improve Utility Management

Based in Roanoke, Virginia, the Virginia Utility Protection Service, Inc. (VUPS) launched a multi-phase pilot program in 2006 that integrates GPS-enabled receivers and locators with software applications to help notify utility companies when a land excavation needs to take place in a certain area. This gives the companies time to mark out underground utility sites so that property damage and utility outages do not occur. Such precautions also prevent injury and save lives. VUPS is a one-call notification center that serves as the go-between for excavation companies and utility companies, and they hope to use GPS technology to improve their services.

• Phase I—The primary goal of VUPS was to decrease the rate of over-notification by increasing the accuracy of the locate notification ticket in the first place. By creating a virtual electronic white line, excavators could take a PDA file to the site, walk the area and see the line on an ortho-photography view, and then complete the ticket in the field. The team targeted Fairfax County for their first phase and, after a year’s study, noted an 8% reduction in the number of tickets issued per locate request. Expanding that number throughout the state, where 7.8 million locate notification tickets are issued every year at a cost of $10 a ticket, the program would save the state nearly $6.3 million.


• Phase II—The next goal was to use GPS technology and devices in the actual locating instruments in order to create an electronic manifest that in turn would give excavators a bird’s eye view of the work area complete with utility markings; this would be a huge improvement over the paint and flags traditionally used to mark a site for excavation. The system works by placing GPS units in the locating receiver to analyze real-time depth, the current measurement index (CMI), the frequency, and the locator mode and then exporting that information to a Magellan software application that automatically records the coordinates of latitude and longitude for future reference. “The entire process is done automatically,” said Matt Manning, locating equipment product manager for McLaughlin. “Magellan GPS units are mounted to the utility locator and it’s a one-hand operation. In other words, once you have the GPS unit set up, you basically are controlling all the locating and GPS recording with the push of one button on the utility receiver.”


• Phase III—The last stage is to integrate the GPS technology, its mapping abilities, and the associated software applications directly into the actual excavation equipment. By linking all the components, there would be less damage since an alarm would sound whenever the equipment got too close to a documented utility device.

The Importance of GPS Technology in Utility Mapping

Everyone has probably seen footage of a water line being punctured by a backhoe excavating a site, with great plumes of water shooting into the air. And probably everyone has experienced a power outage because a power line was inadvertently bumped or knocked out during construction. With advances in GPS-enabled location devices, such incidents should fade into distant memory. The statistics prove the importance of implementing this advanced technology in utility management.

• Burst water or sewer lines and downed electrical lines are no small misfortunes. They can cost millions in property damage and even result in personal injury or loss of life. A ten-year study of energy pipelines alone between 1996 and 2006 turned up 680 excavation incidents that resulted in $259 million of property damage.


• Time and money are both lost in the location notification process due to over-notification, as already noted above in the VUPS program. Estimates show that 150 million notification tickets are issued annually in the United States; some are duplications, but most are based on the vague descriptions and incorrect excavation site information sent into the one-call center that results in more notification tickets being issued.

Whether it is helping a firefighter find a fire hydrant faster or an excavator safely negotiate a site, GPS mapping of utilities is crucial. Cities and states across America are recognizing the importance of this technology in efficiently managing many aspects of civilian life.

GPS Goes Underground