The underworld is real—and Allen & Company’s underground mapping professionals can uncover it

On any given day, people walk over a bustling array of underground utilities without even realizing it. By one estimate, there are over 20 million miles of below-grade wires, cables, and pipelines beneath the ground we walk, run, bike, drive, and commute on. Engineering professionals spent time and effort installing those underground utilities over many years. And even after installation—sometimes years or even decades later—work crews often need to dig down again for necessary repairs.

Understanding the layout of below-ground utilities is crucial before any of the digging commences to ensure the safety of construction workers and their equipment. Thanks to a competency known as Subsurface Utility Exploration (SUE), Allen & Company’s professional surveyors and mappers can get a peek into the intricate maze of cables and pipes hidden below the surface. SUE technology allows for a deeper and more detailed look at what’s underground, helping companies dig smarter and faster.

The reality is that America’s infrastructure is aging—and many areas require repairs to remain operational and relevant. The United States is a large, geologically diverse country, with well over a century’s worth of telephone, internet, sewer, and other utilities installed underneath the ground. The problems associated with this are legion, not the least being the possibility of mysterious fires underneath streets, as recently happened in Baltimore.

While it may be impossible to get out ahead of every potential problem affecting underground utilities (remember there are 20 million miles’ worth of underground assets), employing SUE technology to obtain a fuller understanding of the subsurface environment helps engineers and other problem solvers know where the issues might be, and then formulate a plan to fix them.

In addition to correcting subsurface utility installations of the past, SUE technology also allows us to look at solutions for crafting the infrastructure of the decades still to come. This year’s hurricanes devastated aboveground power lines, requiring a thorough revision of how the community is supplied with electricity. In Tampa, those familiar wooden poles are being taken down and power lines are being relocated underground. This is one small way in which SUE professionals are looking ahead at the longer term for an energy future, and an infrastructure plan, in which utilities must be relocated below the surface to withstand stronger and more frequent weather-related events.

In addition to locating and potentially replacing outdated utility lines, the technology can uncover storage tanks, contaminants, and septic tanks, which may need updating and/or remediation—without digging. We’ve shared data before from the Department of Transportation that every $1 spent on SUE translates to $4.62 in total savings. Furthermore, the agency reports that SUE also reduces construction-related costs. Accordingly, the long-term solutions to the infrastructure issues of the present won’t necessarily bring along a hefty price tag. Think of it as investing in our collective future.

“The pipelines and other utilities that exist under the ground represent a patchwork of work undertaken by different companies, agencies, and workers for well over a hundred years—and much of it is in drastic need of modernization,” said Kyle Binni, Allen & Company’s Director of Sales and Business Development. “By using SUE, we are able to locate all of these underground installations, and provide the market with valuable data, empowering better decision making by civic authorities exploring long-term, cost-efficient plans for envisioning an entirely new infrastructure that will stand for generations to come.”

Our Allen & Company team has spent years refining the processes of applying SUE tech to see beneath the ground and create the most up-to-date maps of below-grade utilities. The technology also has other applications for highways, railroads, military, and other types of construction as well.

Get in touch to learn how Allen & Company’s underground mapping professionals continue to innovate on projects requiring economically efficient solutions to the ongoing puzzles located beneath our feet. We will continue to safely apply the latest SUE technologies to ensure your development and construction projects get off the ground successfully.