Subsurface Utility Engineering: A Call to Action for Construction Project Owners

Abstract

Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) is an engineering process that can help reduce unforeseen site conditions resulting from the lack of or inaccurate portrayal of underground utilities. It can help prevent construction contract cost and time growth as well as damage to existing utilities, unplanned utility outages, design changes, construction contract claims, property damage, personal injuries, and even deaths. Since 1986 SUE has consistently demonstrated benefits on municipal projects. This study focused on projects and procedures used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Savannah District and a case study of one project’s challenges with unforeseen site conditions resulting from inaccurate and incomplete utility records. Geophysical techniques for detecting and mapping subsurface utility hardware and software have undergone significant improvements. Primary SUE Benefits include reduced number and scope of utility relocations, minimized contractor delay claims and change orders, and accurate location and knowledge of subsurface utility conditions (Anspach & Scott, 2019). Despite this, project owners and engineers rarely apply these new technologies because 1) SUE is not commonly taught in civil engineering curricula, and 2) SUE specialists are not always commonly available (Anspach & Scott, 2019). This research used a focus group methodology consisting of subject matter experts; three (3) USACE District design branches, Savannah, Kansas City, and Mobile along with three (3) private Architecture / Engineering (AE) firms routinely used by the Savannah District. The objective of this study is to highlight some of the benefits of SUE and compel USACE and project owners to identify and require the appropriate quality level of SUE for their projects on a routine basis.