Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Field Services

Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) is the investigation of underground utilities to help aid in design on a site.

The project owner assumes responsibility for taking appropriate actions to consider and deal with utility risks. On small projects where few utilities are present, this may only involve making a conscious decision to proceed with the project using readily available information. On larger, more complex projects, the services of MPL may be employed to provide expert advice and to use available technologies to provide better information. MPL will then advise the project owner of utility risks and recommend an appropriate quality level of utility data for a given project area at the appropriate time within the project planning and design process. The project owner will then specify the desired quality level of utility data. MPL will apply the desired utility quality level to the project owner in accordance with the standard of care and will be responsible for negligent errors and/or omissions in the utility data for the certified utility quality level.

Proper use of this service will eliminate many of the utility problems typically encountered on projects, including:

• Delays to projects caused by waiting for utility relocation work to be completed so construction can begin;
• Delays to projects caused by redesign when construction cannot follow the original design due to unexpected utility conflicts;
• Delays to contractors during construction caused by cutting, damaging, or discovering utility lines that were not known to be there;
• Claims by contractors for delays resulting from unexpected encounters with utilities; and
• Deaths, injuries, property damage, and releases of product into the environment caused by cutting utility lines that were not known to be there.

Scope of Work - The process of developing a written project-specific work plan package that consists of scope of work, levels of service vs. risk allocation, project schedule and desired project delivery method. The SUE work plan package is agreed upon by the SUE provider and the client, describing the SUE work to be performed.

Designating - The process of using a surface geophysical method or methods to interpret the presence of a subsurface utility and mark its approximate horizontal position on the ground surface or on above-ground surface markers.

Locating - The process of exposing and recording the precise vertical and horizontal location and providing utility size and configuration of a utility.

Data Management - The process of surveying, designating and locating information to project control and transferring it into the client's CADD system, GIS files, or project plans.

Conflict Analysis - The engineering process of using a conflict matrix to evaluate and compare depicted designating information with proposed plans (highway, bridge, drainage, and other) in order to inform all stakeholders of potential conflicts, potential resolutions and costs to cure.

The utility standard does not require a certain level of utility data, but MPL suggests obtaining at least Level B data on any project that will require subsurface digging and Level A data on any designed utility crossing.