Subsurface Utility Engineering İs A Cost-effective Method Of Underground Utility Mapping and Detection

Research carried out by universities in U.S. and Canada suggests Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE), brought to the UK by TBE (UK) Limited, provides substantial cost savings down the construction line. Ultimately, SUE is a highly recommended pre-design, underground utility mapping solution to the industry.

In the current economic climate, where 'tightening the belt' has become a prerequisite of construction budgets, TBE's alternative to underground utility mapping and detection is widely known for its accuracy, eliminating not only unexpected costs, but project risk.

However in general terms, the cost saving benefits of SUE surveys is particularly subjective. Therefore to identify and demonstrate just how valuable it can be to a construction project, two separate research studies were conducted and showed significant results.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in America has encouraged the use of SUE on major highway construction projects for several years. It believes that when information on the horizontal and vertical location of underground utilities is obtained early in a project's development, projects can be designed around the utilities, avoiding costly utility conflicts and relocations. Knowing just how beneficial SUE is to a project, the FHWA commissioned a study in 2000 which was conducted by Purdue University researchers. It found that project owners could save, on average, $4.62 for every dollar spent on SUE.

In a similar study in Canada from 2005 and commissioned by the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association, the University of Toronto's Centre for Information Systems in Infrastructure and Construction discovered an average savings of $3.41 (Canadian) for every dollar spent on SUE.