Underground Construction - May 2020 - 21

Subsurface Utility Engineering Decade in Review
Cardno is an example. Another example is the development of
SUE "divisions" in traditional A/E ﬁrms such as Woolpert,
Cobb Fendley and Halﬀ & Associates. Even private equity
funds are getting into the mix.
So, what is coming in the next decade? We will see more
consolidation of SUE ﬁrms. We will see a big increase in utility
database repositories. I believe this will initially create more
problems than it will solve, as we will experience the same
"garbage in/garbage out" problems we have always had until
we develop industry "certiﬁed record drawing" standards and
methods of enforcement.
We will see an increasing emphasis in utility issues for
project designers. As a function of this, we will see educational
institutions place increasing emphasis on utilities through
course oﬀerings at the advanced level.
We will see a gradual lessening of the knee-jerk reaction
to 9/11 security issues and its manifestation in the
unwillingness to share data as the beneﬁts of collaboration
for our limited underground space are weighed.
We will see DOTs taking a more active role in utility
management in its rights-of-way. Unfortunately, we may
see some utility disasters as a result of us not knowing
where something is, or not eﬀectively communicating that
information to the excavator.

Subsurface Utility Engineering -
2001 in review
James Anspach

The marketplace for subsurface utility engineering is continuing
to grow at an unprecedented pace in 2001. As has always been
the case, the state DOT market for these services continues to
lead demand. Illinois, Washington and Georgia have all begun
statewide programs. They join the well-established programs
in several other states.
Arkansas, Missouri and South Carolina are slated to begin
programs in 2002. Most of these states are only utilizing
the mapping component of SUE, but some are adding utility
coordination and relocation design to their SUE programs.
of civil engineering's utility engineering branch that includes the
investigation, analysis, judgment and documentation of existing
utility networks.
The Transportation Research Board published its six pillars of
utility engineering at its 98th Annual Meeting. These six pillars are
utility process management, utility investigations, utility conﬂict
management, utility design, utility construction management
and utility asset management. The Engineers Joint Contract
Documents Committee, controlled by ASCE, ACEC and NSPE, and
assisted by more than 20 other organizations such as APWA, in
2014 recognized ASCE 38 as a "basic engineering service" in its
standard contract documents.
In 2018, EJCDC added utility coordination to that recognition.
The Transportation Association of Canada published its document,
"Guideline for the Coordination of Utility Relocations," in 2016.

We expect it to be only a matter of time before states with
signiﬁcant highway systems come to their senses.
Municipalities, airports and pharmaceutical plants have
registered a large increase in demand. Perhaps the greatest
demand is from the civil engineering community. Prime
engineering ﬁrms are realizing that subsurface utility
engineering is becoming the standard around the country.
Continued promotion from ASCE, FHWA, AASHTO, AGC and
other organizations fuels this realization.
Case law has also been a persuasive factor for SUE.
The January 2002 issue of Civil Engineering magazine cited
a recent state supreme court case where it determined that
an engineer owes a duty of care to a contractor, regardless of
any direct contractual relationship. Speciﬁcally, the court found
that the contractor was entitled to economic damages caused
by the errors or omissions of utility data on the plans (Eastern
Steel v. City of Salem).
From a contractor's point of view, would you rather sue the
project owner who could give you future contracts, or sue the
engineer who will never be in a position to oﬀer you a contract? Engineers are realizing that they can lower their liability
exposure by placing a competent subsurface utility engineer on
their team.
Although a long time coming, ASCE is expected to publish
its Standard Guideline for the Collection and Depiction of Existing
Subsurface Utility Data this year. Lawyers on both sides of utility
claims are anxiously awaiting this standard, which will be the
ﬁrst that speciﬁcally assists engineers in recognizing and managing their utility risks. Other documents, like AASHTO's Best
Utility Practices, FHWA's Manual on Avoiding Utility Relocations,
and AASHTO's guide on avoiding construction delays are prominently featuring SUE as a solution to utility issues.
A recent internet search for subsurface utility engineering
turned up hundreds of ﬁrms promoting their expertise in SUE.
Just two years ago, there might have been 50 such ﬁrms. As always, explosive growth will bring lots of errors, misconceptions,
and downright deceptions to the profession. Utilities present
great risks; consumers beware. *

Schools and bills
In 2016, the inaugural Utility Investigation School for SUE
Professionals, a 40-hour short course, was held at Louisiana
Tech's Trenchless Technology Center. Now on its seventh school
and held at other universities in addition to LaTech, more than
200 professionals have completed the course and test.
Universities are beginning to understand the demand and
necessity for education in utility issues in their curricula. The
University of Texas-Arlington initiated a Utility Engineering
Masters Program in 2019. Several other universities are in
discussions to do the same. Colorado School of Mines holds an
annual 90-minute class for its third-year civil engineering students
in utilities. The University of Florida holds a similar session for its
geomatics students. Universities across the country are looking at
adding courses speciﬁc to utility engineering.
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