Process For Exposing Underground Utilities

Abstract

A process for safely excavating to reveal underground utilities. The process includes the steps of: identifying known utilities; planning an excavation trench; excavating the trench by: (i) making a cut of the excavation trench at a selected depth; (ii) extracting material from the trench; (iii) observing the trench; (iv) adjusting the depth of cut; and repeating (i) to (iv) until the process is complete.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to the field of excavation. More particularly, the invention relates to a process for excavating an area where there is a danger of damage to underground utilities and infrastructure.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION[0002]Modern cities require an extensive range of utilities to function. The utilities include at least water, electricity, gas, telephone, and fibre optics. These utilities are typically provided through underground conduits. In theory the location of the utilities is carefully recorded and held centrally by city authorities. In practice this does not universally occur and the location of many utilities may be unrecorded or recorded incorrectly. This may happen for various reasons such as records of older utilities being lost or destroyed, errors being made at the time of installing the utilities, or emergency repairs being made without proper recording of location. This latter occurrence can be particularly problemati...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a method to safely and quickly excavate a trench without damaging any unidentified utilities. This is done by selecting a location for the trench that minimizes disruption to known utilities and marking the location on the ground with color-coded signs. The system has been tested and found to be effective in minimizing risks.

Problems solved by technology

In practice this does not universally occur and the location of many utilities may be unrecorded or recorded incorrectly.

This may happen for various reasons such as records of older utilities being lost or destroyed, errors being made at the time of installing the utilities, or emergency repairs being made without proper recording of location.

This latter occurrence can be particularly problematic if, for instance, an emergency bypass to a gas line is routed down an old communication conduit but not recorded (probably due to an expectation of imminent decommissioning).

The presence of unknown utilities, or known utilities in an unsuspected location, presents a significant risk.

It will be appreciated that encountering a gas main when using a metal saw to dig a trench can have catastrophic outcomes.

The problem with the prudent approach is that it significantly slows the excavation process, which adds to cost.

If it is assumed there are unknown utilities of indeterminate nature the choice of excavation tool is limited to hand tools or “soft” non-destructive excavation machines using pressurised air or water.

Even pressurised water may not be suitable as test have shown that water pressures above 2000 psi can damage or destroy buried utilities.

Similar issues are encountered in relation to underground infrastructure inclusive of concrete and brick ducts, viaduct structures, manhole walls, underground tunnels and the like.

Indeed, there are recent examples of deaths caused by gas explosions resulting from excavation of a city street.

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