Underground Infrastructure - June 2023 - 29

Popular utility-locating devices use
automatic, real-time data capture and
integrated GPS to help 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. The device records 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
cloud-based 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 cloudbased
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.
Data for your bore. Using an HDD
guidance system, a drill operator can
download a bore plan and see it overlayed
on the 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 their drill and compare
it against the plan.
At the same time, on-board equipment
telematics can record 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.
valuable
Telematics data can also include
diagnostics
equipment
to
help minimize machine downtime.
Operators onsite can monitor fuel and
DEF levels, battery performance, and
other systems. And 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.
Data for reports. 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 expedite the payment
process. Instead of waiting weeks or
even months for paper-based payments
to process, it's possible to get paid the
same week a job is completed.
You can also store equipment
telematics data and use it both for EDR
reporting and to help 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 preventative
maintenance.
Plus, you can use historical job-site
data to better plan for future workloads,
more accurately estimate hours for new
jobs and, even, discover big savings. In
one case, for example, a company used
equipment fuel-consumption data to
realize that its machines were running
idle for too long, costing the company
almost $800,000 per year.
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
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Subsite Electronics, (800) 846-2713,
subsite.com
UndergroundInfrastructure.com | JUNE 2023 29
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Underground Infrastructure - June 2023

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