Underground Infrastructure - August 2023 - 31

for compliance purposes. It can also
help you reduce risks and improve your
productivity on the job.
Widely used utility-locating devices
employ automatic, real-time data capture
and integrated GPS to help locator
crews accurately and reliably locate underground
utilities. The latest versions
of the devices, with enhanced receivers,
even allow crews to locate utilities with
centimeter-grade accuracy.
As the device locates utilities, it can
map and label them as power, water or
telecom, recording that information
locally. Locator crews can then access
the information from their smartphones
and upload it to their mapping service,
whether it's a CAD system or Cloudbased
mapping service. Crews can also
send the information to their supervisors,
owners or other parties for approval
or further action.
Eventually, as more cities and states
require mapping of underground utilities,
crews will also be able to upload this
information to an external Cloud-based
system for statewide, or even nationwide,
utility mapping.
What's more, all this can be done
using one device and one software -
making the planning process simple and
efficient. Because all data is recorded and
managed digitally, rather than manually,
it helps reduce the risk of errors.
Boring data
Second, you need data for your bore.
Using an HDD guidance system, drill operators
can download a bore plan and see
it overlayed on their guidance display.
This can help them stay on plan by monitoring
critical waypoints as they drill.
The system also logs bore data in real
time. While in the field, the drill operator
can download this data to a smartphone,
tablet or computer to review a profile of
the drill and compare it against the plan.
At the same time, on-board equipment
telematics can record equipment
operating data to help contractors meet
EDR requirements and stay productive.
The data can show, for example, how a
drill is being utilized, how long its engine
has been idling, and if it is being
misused or overused.
Telematics data can also include
valuable equipment diagnostics to help
minimize machine downtime. Operators
onsite can monitor fuel and DEF levels,
battery performance and other systems.
Fleet managers back in the office can
track wearable and service parts to understand
how quickly operators are going
through drilling bits or digging chains.
Reporting data
Third, you need data for your report.
After a job is done, the HDD guidance
system can generate an as-built report.
You can store the report, along with
the plan, for compliance purposes and
to resolve any potential disputes in the
future about the bore.
Again, because data logging in the asbuilt
report is digitally automated, it can
reduce errors compared to handwritten
bore logs. Automated documentation
can also help you expedite the payment
process. Instead of waiting weeks or
even months for paper-based payments
to process, you can possibly get paid the
same week you complete a job.
You can also store equipment
telematics data and use it both for EDR
reporting and to help you better plan
for jobs. You can monitor, for example,
how each machine in your fleet is
performing. You can look for patterns
in idle hours to help schedule preventive
maintenance. Further, you can use
historical jobsite data to better plan for
future workloads and more accurately
estimate hours for new jobs.
In one case, a company used equipment
fuel-consumption data to realize
that its machines were running idle for
too long - costing the company upwards
of $800,000 per year. Such discoveries
can help you improve how operators
run machines and realize big savings.
Bringing it all together
Data from technology that's likely already
in your fleet can help you work
better at every stage of a job. It can help
you efficiently identify and map existing
buried infrastructure, plan and install
new lines with confidence, and report
as-builts and EDRs with ease.
However, just having bore and
equipment data is not enough - you
also must be able to integrate it. If the
technologies that produce the data can't
share it with each other, the data can
become siloed or stuck at its source.
By using technology that's designed to
work together, you can streamline data
sharing and access any data you want,
when and where you want it. UI
ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Cory Maker
is the product marketing manager of Subsite
Electronics. Patrick Iyonsi serves as the Utility
Inspection Product Manager at Subsite Electronics.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Subsite Electronics, (800) 846-2713,
subsite.com
UndergroundInfrastructure.com | AUGUST 2023 31
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Underground Infrastructure - August 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Underground Infrastructure - August 2023
