Intelligent utility locating tool for excavators

Currently, backhoe excavator operators have to depend on color-coded markings applied by utility locators to expect the location of utilities buried in the ground. As accidents prove time and time again, this method is unreliable. While more efforts should be spent on subsurface engineering and as-built documentation, excavators should have their own tools to "see" cables, wires, and pipes while working underground. This paper presents the result of work aimed at supplying backhoe operators with a device capable of scanning the ground for metallic objects. The "fishfinder" type tool is thought to be the last "barricade" against horrific accidents caused by the damage of buried utilities. The writers not only present the results of extensive tests in the laboratory and the field but also highlight that the outdated contractual principles used by the government, utility companies, and insurers establishes insurmountable barriers for transferring this novel technology into the industry. The relevance of the presented work is in the experimental data that has been collected and analyzed both in the laboratory and in the field.