Page 7 - Texas811 Magazine 2021 Issue 1

successfully identify utilities:
• A drone to capture images of inaccessible areas
• A pole camera to analyze storm pipe integrity
• An app (used mainly for hunting) to supplement loss of cell and/or GPS signal and aid the documentation of field notes and electronic field sketches
• Electromagnetic locating equipment to sweep for private and unrecorded utilities
• GPS
GIS-grade record drawings can be deceptive and are often left to various interpretations. Several facility owners on the project provided record drawings in this fashion, including most of the communication owners. These drawings almost always required significant field investigation to determine if the depicted location was correct or not. Our crews were able to accurately map the various utilities shown in this format, in some cases with the assistance of owner representatives who are familiar with the area and could provide information not found on record drawings. These resources and further coordination with several
Surveying at well pad site
state and governmental agencies allowed our firm to identify a variety of nontypical structures and unmarked utilities.
The project included a variety of nontypical structures and unconventional utility line placements, such as pipes on top of the ground
or partially buried; an aerial water line; and numerous oil/gas well structure types (including plugged and abandoned wells), some buried and some exposed. A number of facilities were not shown on record drawings, including oil/gas flow lines from a well to a tank battery or to a gathering line, many private water lines for irrigation and livestock usage, numerous secondary electric cables and several unknown conductors. Recovery and monitoring wells (private), a private force main,
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2021, Issue 1
Texas811 • 5