A streamlined construction process begins with access to accurate underground data at the design phase of a project, but how can engineers ensure that they are working with precise and up-to-date information? Utility explores how new utility modelling technology is helping engineers navigate the murky world of underground utilities. Most infrastructure construction projects begin with an engineer or CAD designer [...]
Reveal has launched a new Unified Utility Model to help engineers understand the murky world of underground utility information and deliver their projects on-time and on-budget. Most infrastructure construction projects begin with an engineer or CAD designer compiling maps from asset owners of all the existing utilities in a project scope area. It’s a painstaking and time-consuming exercise and, as [...]
As the locating industry develops and customers require more advanced services, there is an increasing need for locators to become smarter and deliver better accuracy and better reporting. The advent of more competitive GPS/GNSS antennas – such as the EMLID RX and Trimble DA2 – now allows locators the ability to precisely pinpoint position. In addition, easier reporting software like [...]
As the major representative body for locators in Australia, NULCA today provides essential leadership and support to its members and works to eliminate network damages, personal injury and costs to the community during excavation and construction activities. Here, we uncover the history of the association and the events that laid the foundation for the NULCA as we know it today. [...]
In an effort to extend the lifespan of its pipelines and protect the environment from harmful spills, Barwon Water is investing $50 million over the next five years on upgrades and repairs to its sewer system, spanning Geelong, the Colac Otway Shire, Surf Coast, and the Bellarine. Barwon Water Managing Director, Shaun Cumming, said the significant program was part of [...]
Accurate utility location is vital for many types of construction and development projects, as well as for routine maintenance and repair of utilities. Failure to locate and properly mark utilities can result in damage, costly repairs, service disruptions, and potential safety hazards. That’s why utilities and local governments are looking for solutions that can help them get the job done [...]
Barwon Water has announced it is expanding its program of sewer upgrades and repairs to protect the local environment and ensure the region’s network is reliable. Many sewer mains in the region are several decades old, with some more than 100 years old. They are vulnerable to damage from tree roots, and from rubbish and wipes flushed down toilets and [...]
Find it faster with RIDGID utility location equipment. RIDGID utility locators feature an easy-to-use visual mapping display that allows the location of utility lines and sondes with confidence. These locators can be used with RIDGID SeeSnake® cameras equipped with sonde transmitters to find the camera head during a pipe inspection. They can also be used in conjunction with a line [...]
By Anthony Johnstone, Sales Director, Access Detection Although this article is specific to the release of the new SnapTRACK PRO you can also use it as a guide to shopping for any brand of locator on the market. While teaching the NULCA Australia professional locator course, I have had the unique opportunity to compare all the different brands of locators. [...]
Dial Before You Dig (DBYD) has announced Deloitte Consulting and Esri Australia as the providers for its next generation referral service set to provide enhanced protection for $388 billion worth of underground utility assets across the country. DBYD CEO, Stuart Burdack, said the DBYD group was extremely pleased to collaborate with Esri Australia to provide the next generation referral service [...]
Any excavation, irrespective of size, has the potential to damage assets located around the work site. This damage can lead to service interruptions, delays to the project, costly repairs and, in the worst-case scenario, injury or death. By using a non-destructive digging solution, such as a Vermeer vacuum excavator, contractors can greatly reduce these risks and ensure the safety of [...]
For more than 30 years, the Dial Before You Dig program has become a trusted go-to service for asset owners and contractors. It protects more than $340 billion of infrastructure, covers more than 740,000km and plays a vital role in preventing utility strikes, which can cause expensive damage, widespread inconvenience and, in some tragic circumstances, injury and death. And now, [...]
Most utility locators have a good understanding of electromagnetic field (EMF) locators. While there are similarities between EMF and ground penetrating radar(GPR) technologies, both have their downsides and using GPR alone can be dangerous. Similarities between EMF and GPR locators start with frequencies – single, dual and multi array. Like an EMF locator, GPRs with more than one frequency help [...]
The power industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation as renewable power is rapidly introduced into the system,and distributed generation and microgrids take on increasing significance as an energy solution. Power & Utilities Australia is designed to examine the challenges and opportunities created by this unprecedented disruption in the industry. The 2019 Power & Utilities Australia Conference and Exhibition will be held [...]
Queensland Urban Utilities has announced its component in the average residential water and sewerage bill—based on a water usage of 150kl per year—in Brisbane will increase in 2019/20. Water and sewerage bills will increase by 2.5 per cent or $5.44 per quarter in 2019/20 (42c per week). This does not include the State Bulk Water Charge, which is set and [...]
Contractors are faced with a number of challenges when breaking ground in urban areas. Congested underground conditions, unmarked utilities and increasingly strict regulations mean contractors need to be able to accurately locate underground assets in a timely manner. Using a utility locator such as the Vermeer Verifier G3 locator by McLaughlin will help improve safety for workers, increase productivity and [...]
In any new construction project, it is essential to know which utility assets are buried underground, but how do engineers, contractors, utilities and stakeholders share, assess and make sense of this important information? Standards Australia has recently revised AS 5488 Classification of Subsurface Utility Information to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the location of underground infrastructure. Standards play an [...]
by Anthony Johnstone, Director Training, Access Detection With the advent of autonomous vehicles in our day-to-day lives, it got me thinking about how we can compare these vehicles to our pipe and cable locators and their automated modes. I personally have a vehicle that has some of these autonomous modes and, in the right circumstances, these modes work well to reduce [...]
Dial Before You Dig has developed a data collection and reporting tool, the Infrastructure Damage Reporting System (IDRS), which is designed to build a comprehensive picture in relation to damage incidents associated with excavation activities nationally. Since its inception in 2013, over 125,000 incidents have been reported across the telecommunications, power, water and gas sectors. This is now providing valuable [...]
Drilling Services Australia (DSA) has taken a strategic approach to procuring equipment for its involvement in the infrastructure boom in Queensland. This approach helps DSA to avoid risks, reduce unnecessary downtime and keep the project on schedule. Established in 2010, DSA — operating under the Zarafa Group in Brisbane — offers excavation and drilling services to projects in the civil [...]
Yarra Valley Water, Melbourne’s largest retail water utility, has made its asset data fully available online. The data is available 24/7 via an interactive online Asset Map, and through an open Geographic Information System (GIS), making it easier for other asset owners, planners, engineers and excavators to locate underground water and sewer systems. Yarra Valley Water provides essential water and sanitation services to more [...]
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has published Terms of Reference for a review of the regulatory and market frameworks needed to support a reliable supply of electricity as the power system transforms to include more variable, intermittent generation and demand-side innovation. Reliability of the power system is about having sufficient capacity to produce and transport electricity to meet consumer [...]
Regional households in Western Australia are doing more than metropolitan Perth residents to reduce water usage in a drying climate, government statistics have shown. According to the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) annual Water, Sewerage and Irrigation Performance report, the average regional household used 7.2 per cent less water in 2015-16 than the previous year, while the average Perth household used [...]
In a new proposal by Offshore Energy, Gippsland has been identified as the potential location for Australia’s first offshore wind farm. The proposal includes up to 250 wind turbines within a 574-square kilometre area, which would deliver around 8,000GWh of electricity per year. This is approximately 18 per cent of Victoria’s power usage or enough to power 1.2 million homes. [...]
250 jobs will be created in Adelaide’s north-east following a $21.6 million upgrade to SA Water’s largest water storage tank. The upgrade is part of a wider $89 million State Government program to refurbish 111 water storage tanks across the state between 2016 and 2020. Work is being undertaken by engineering and construction company York Civil. The main part of [...]
by Ashok Sukumaran, MWH, now part of Stantec Australia, and Grégory Poussardin, Accenture ANZ Water Utilities Water and wastewater treatment in Australia and New Zealand have seen significant change in the last two decades. Water utilities are under constant pressure from the community to protect the environment, treat water or wastewater to a higher quality, and meet the demands of [...]
Communication networks are an integral part of utility automation systems. With the increased usage of non-conventional instrument transformers and IEC 61850 protection devices, more and more critical information, like sampled values streams and GOOSE messages, are transmitted on these networks. All protection, automation, and control devices have to be online and communicating appropriately. Testing tools and techniques are needed to [...]
The petrochemical industry started using the first radar sensors for level measurement in the early 70s. However, the technical effort was immense, and the costs too great to use them in process automation. Thanks to the continuous development of aerospace technology and telecommunications in the 80s and 90s, microwave technology became cheaper, and gradually established itself in industrial level measurement. [...]
In order to combat the growing problem of power instability in remote parts of Australia, utilities are deploying large-scale battery energy storage systems to increase reliability, assist with the integration of renewables, and save millions of dollars on infrastructure upgrades. Rural Australia has a sparsely populated grid and customers are often connected by long, heavily loaded lines. This, combined with [...]
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