"A.G. Zoutewelle Surveyors exhibits a very high standard of professionalism – they are highly responsive, do what they say they are going to do when they say they will do it and their work is always accurate."

--Charles Jarnigan
Lincoln Harris
                                    

                              

 

 

Case Study 1: Underground Infrastructure

Are you aware of all the utilities located where you are constructing your building, roadway or parking lot?  If not, you might need to conduct an ASCE SUE (subsurface utilities engineering) investigation.

Many utilities are located everywhere around us to serve our cities’ needs.  To establish confidence in your existing site conditions, protect safety, avoid project delays and avoid utility service disruptions, we recommend that our clients conduct an appropriate “audit” of existing underground infrastructure before commencing any design or construction.
Many survey projects include utility locations within the scope of work.  However, underground utilities can be very challenging to identify and locate.  Therefore, extensive SUE (subsurface utilities engineering) is not normally within the scope of land survey projects.  However, when designing new buildings on a dense institutional campus, for example, we recommend that you investigate and identify to a higher level of detail, including Quality Level B or A of the ASCE SUE (Subsurface Utility Engineering) standards. 

A.G. Zoutewelle Surveyors was called to update current conditions on a 150-acre densely-built corporate campus.  The client was embarking on a massive building plan to redevelop significant areas of the campus in order to add buildings, parking decks, driveways and new utility services.  However, the site was already full of existing uses, including buildings, utilities and even underground tunnels.  There was an ‘underground spaghetti’ of unmapped utilities and other site features! Unfortunately, existing records did not provide a complete picture of these utilities and other structures.

In order to design the new buildings, the various engineers, architects and landscape architects needed detailed information, including elevations, heights and depths, of the existing site improvements.  Through our SUE (subsurface utility engineering) initiative A.G. Zoutewelle Surveyors coordinated a comprehensive effort to identify the 2-dozen types of underground utilities throughout this campus.  We coordinated the work of various underground utility location professionals as well as the client’s maintenance associates to provide a comprehensive survey drawing to clearly show the locations of all these utilities.

Happily, the client experienced great success in their construction of the new buildings and other infrastructure.  The number of surprises and disruptions during construction was dramatically reduced compared to their previous projects.  The client saved money, and the design team experienced a smooth process.  We’re proud of our company’s contribution to this project!