Underground Infrastructure - August 2023 - 13

King works out of McKim & Creed's SUE location in Sarasota,
Fla., and primarily provides locating services for utility companies.
His team's services expanded in recent years aſt er several
municipalities shared concerns about roadway, sidewalk and turf
condition aſt er contractors had fi nished verifying utilities.
" Overall, contractors are doing a good job of confi rming
locates by exposing existing utilities ahead of any excavating or
horizontal directional drilling work, " said King. " However, contractors
will oſt en opt for potholing methods that can make it
challenging to restore an area to its original conditions - especially
when it comes to hard surfaces like roadways and sidewalks. "
Hard surface potholing challenges
Around three years ago, the team at McKim & Creed sat down
with area utility companies and municipalities to discuss this
ongoing challenge.
" Contractors performing the work were employing a variety
of methods digging under streets and sidewalks but over time,
the restoration work wasn't holding up very well, " said King. " It
was common for contractors to use cut-off saws and jackhammers
to get through the hard surface and dig from there.
" Aſt erward, the soil was packed back in, and an asphalt or
concrete patch was applied. But as the soil sett led and patches
weathered, streets and sidewalks were leſt with dips, humps
and/or potholes. In many cases, cities have been forced to mill
down roads and apply new asphalt to restore them properly. "
Th at wasn't the only issue cutt ing and jackhammering
through roadways can cause. Locating and daylighting existing
utilities led to signifi cant lane closures due to the amount of
equipment required and the steps involved with the process.
Crews oſt en need to search for utilities, so they extend the holes
and tear up more surface area than expected. Th is leads to larger
sections of asphalt or concrete to repair.
" Hard surface potholing can be a huge challenge when a
crew isn't using the right tools for the job, " said King. " And unfortunately,
many don't take the time to learn about the industry's
best practices. "
Testing core saw options
Aſt er learning about the frustrations utility companies and municipalities
were having, McKim & Creed set out to devise a
bett er solution. Th e initial workaround was a mechanical core
saw mounted to the front of a service van.
" Th e mechanical core saw was a good fi rst step for us because
it addressed our customers' concerns about some of the
issues involved with using cut-off saws and jackhammers, " he
explained. " Once a core was drilled, we could vacuum excavate
material underneath until we reached the underground line, fi ll
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Underground Infrastructure - August 2023

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