Underground Service
Locating Sydney
Electromagnetic detection and hydro excavation to locate and expose gas, water, power and telco.
Know what is underground before you dig. Service locating is available when required and is quoted separately from vac-truck hire.
What Is Underground Service Locating?
Underground service locating is the critical first step before any excavation project. Beneath the streets, footpaths and properties of Sydney lies a dense network of buried utilities including gas mains, water pipes, sewer lines, electrical cables, telecommunications conduits, fibre optic networks and stormwater drains. Striking any of these services during excavation can cause serious injury, property damage, utility outages and significant financial penalties.
Pro Expose Hydro Vacs provides a complete locate-and-expose service that combines electromagnetic line tracing using a RIDGID NaviTrack Scout locator with hydro excavation potholing to physically verify the position and depth of underground assets. This two-stage approach gives you far greater certainty than electromagnetic detection alone, because locating equipment provides estimated depths that can be affected by soil conditions, service material and proximity to other utilities.
By combining both capabilities in a single visit, we save you time and money. Instead of booking a locator one day and a potholing crew the next, Pro Expose arrives with the locating equipment and the vac truck together. We identify the services electronically, mark them on the ground surface, and then pothole to confirm exact depths and alignments at critical points along the excavation zone. You leave the site with verified service positions and the confidence to proceed with your project safely.
RIDGID NaviTrack Scout Locating Equipment
Pro Expose's owned RIDGID NaviTrack Scout locator for locating compatible sondes, tracing compatible lines when used with a transmitter, and passive tracing of energised AC lines. Locating results and displayed depths are estimates that may require physical verification through potholing.
The RIDGID NaviTrack Scout is the locator Pro Expose owns and brings to site. It supports locating compatible sondes, tracing compatible lines when used with a transmitter, and passive tracing of energised AC lines, providing estimated position and depth readings. The operator walks the surface with the receiver to trace the signal path, and the receiver displays an estimated horizontal position and depth that our operator marks on the ground surface with spray paint or marker flags. Those readings are estimates and may require physical verification through potholing.
For non-metallic services such as PVC water pipes, plastic gas lines and unshielded fibre conduits, electromagnetic locating has limitations. In these cases, we rely on the underground service plans supplied for the site for approximate positioning and then use hydro excavation potholing to physically expose the service and confirm its location. This combination of electronic locating and physical verification provides the highest level of certainty available for identifying underground infrastructure.
Specialist Locating and Surveying Available by Arrangement
For projects requiring capabilities beyond Pro Expose's owned RIDGID NaviTrack Scout, additional locating, surveying and scanning services can be arranged through specialist service partners and quoted separately.
- Ground penetrating radar
- Subsurface utility surveying
- CAD utility plans in DWG and PDF formats
- Utility survey data post-processing, including 12D and DWG outputs
- Preparation of utility survey plans
- 2D and 3D concrete scanning
Availability, scope and site requirements are confirmed for each project. These specialist services are separately quoted and are not automatically included with vac-truck hire.
Types of Underground Services We Locate
Our locating service covers all major utility categories found beneath Sydney's streets and properties.
The Dial Before You Dig Process
Before excavation work begins, current underground essential-services information must be obtained for the work area and adjacent areas. A Before You Dig Australia (BYDA, formerly DBYD) enquiry can be used to request information and plans from participating asset owners. These plans are indicative and do not authorise excavation. Relevant asset-owner directions and site requirements must also be followed. Plans are returned by email after an enquiry is lodged and can include information from participating asset owners such as Sydney Water, Jemena (gas), Ausgrid or Endeavour Energy, Telstra, NBN Co and Optus.
However, DBYD plans are indicative only. They show the general corridor where services are expected to be, but the actual position can differ by several metres horizontally and the depth information is often absent or unreliable. This is where physical service locating and potholing become essential. Where plans are supplied for a site, Pro Expose uses them as a starting reference, then performs electromagnetic locating to trace the path of each service, and potholes at critical points to verify depths.
This three-stage process (DBYD plans, electromagnetic locating, pothole verification) represents the gold standard for service identification and is the approach specified by most civil engineers, project managers and safety officers on construction and infrastructure projects across Sydney.
Service Locating Questions Answered
What is underground service locating?
Underground service locating is the process of detecting and mapping buried utilities such as gas pipes, water mains, sewer lines, electrical cables, telecommunications conduits and stormwater drains before any excavation work begins. It uses electromagnetic detection equipment to identify the position and approximate depth of services, which is then confirmed through potholing (hydro excavation) when precise depth verification is required.
What equipment do you use for service locating?
Pro Expose uses a RIDGID NaviTrack Scout locator for locating compatible sondes, tracing compatible lines when used with a transmitter, and passive tracing of energised AC lines. For line tracing, a compatible transmitter applies a signal to a traceable service. For sonde locating, the NaviTrack Scout follows the signal transmitted by a compatible sonde. The displayed position and depth are estimates that may require physical verification through potholing. For non-metallic services like PVC pipes, we combine locating with hydro excavation potholing to physically expose and verify the asset.
What types of underground services can you detect?
Our locate-and-expose service covers gas mains and service connections, water mains and meter connections, electrical power cables (both high and low voltage), telecommunications and NBN conduits, fibre optic cables, sewer mains and junctions, and stormwater pipes and pits. Metallic services are detected electromagnetically, while non-metallic services are identified using the underground service plans supplied for the site and confirmed by hydro excavation potholing.
What is Dial Before You Dig and do I need it?
Before You Dig Australia (BYDA, formerly Dial Before You Dig) is a free national referral service. Before excavation work begins, current underground essential-services information must be obtained for the work area and adjacent areas. A Before You Dig Australia enquiry can be used to request information and plans from participating asset owners. These plans are indicative and do not authorise excavation. Relevant asset-owner directions and site requirements must also be followed. Where plans are supplied for a site, they are used as a starting reference alongside physical service locating and potholing to verify positions and depths on the ground.
Why should I locate services before digging?
Striking an underground service during excavation can cause gas leaks, electrocution, loss of water supply to entire streets, telecommunications outages, sewage spills and environmental contamination. The financial penalties and repair costs from a service strike can run into tens of thousands of dollars. Service locating before you dig identifies exactly where buried assets are so excavation can proceed safely and in compliance with NSW work health and safety regulations.
Service Locating and Potholing Jobs
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Other Services You May Need
Service Locating Across Sydney
Pro Expose Hydro Vacs provides underground service locating across all of greater Sydney including Western Sydney, Parramatta, Blacktown, Castle Hill, Hills District, Inner West and surrounding suburbs.
Need Service Locating in Sydney?
Call Pro Expose Hydro Vacs for a fast quote on locating and exposing underground services. Service locating is available when required and is quoted separately from vac-truck hire.
Sydney Suburbs We Service
Operating from our Merrylands depot, we cover all of Sydney, including Parramatta, Inner West, Eastern Suburbs, North Shore, Bondi, and Merrylands. Call to confirm availability and dispatch timing.