Sophisticated new technology from PipeHawk is helping to ensure street works are executed swiftly and safely. The PipeHawk II Ground Probing Radar (GPR) System accurately pinpoints most types of obstacles to prevent accidental 'strikes' on pipes carrying vital utilities - damage to which may compromise the safety of the general public or construction workers and can severely disrupt supply services.

So convinced are electronic mapping service providers ADIEN about the advantages of Pipe Hawk's GPR technology, that they have recently purchased an additional three GPR systems to kit out their growing fleet of customised vehicles required to accommodate increased demand for ADIEN's mapping services. The company's business is expanding rapidly, as local authorities, utilities companies and their contractors recognise the benefits GPR technology delivers.

One example of how ADIEN is harnessing the power of Pipe Hawk's GPR technology is a recent survey of utilities beneath Derby's City Centre road network.
Derby City Council commissioned ADIEN to carry out a ground radar survey for part of the 'Connecting Derby' project. This survey located services so that it could be determined which would have to be moved or lowered for the proposed works.

Ground radar was chosen instead of the normal trial hole excavation in order to keep traffic disruption to an absolute minimum and to give a complete and comprehensive layout of the services. In fact, with the survey work being carried out at night very few of the people of Derby are aware that the survey has been carried out at all.

Operating out of its fleet of fully computerised custom design vans; ADIEN plotted the line and depth of every sub-surface pipe and cable using the Pipe Hawk II system, working during the evenings over a period of three months.

ADIEN uses the Pipe Hawk II GPR system to locate plastic, concrete, clay ware pipes plus fibre optic cables - increasingly found in densely populated areas, as the demand for communications and IT grows.

Pipe Hawk's GPR technology allows an entire construction site or survey area to be mapped out rapidly. The system software maps the various scans to provide plan view information on the sub surface environment.

Pipe Hawk's GPR system will accurately identify both the location and the depth of sub surface obstacles, presenting real-time information in colour on 'targets', down to a depth of 2 metres.

Beneath the rugged exterior of the Pipe Hawk II system unit sits complex GPR technology, extensively re-engineered by Pipe Hawk to meet the rough and tumble of everyday construction with minimal maintenance.

Battery powered for portability, the Pipe Hawk II system is completely self-contained, with no trailing wires.

A key factor in ADIEN'S decision to use the Pipe Hawk II GPR was the flexibility and functionality of its icon - driven software system, which enables their skilled technicians to operate more easily and effectively.

Each of ADIEN's specially designed vans is fully computerised. Raw data from scans is downloaded from Pipe Hawk unit via an interface cable and mapped on- site before being transmitted to the company's office for Quality Control by email to provide a fast turnaround of results for the Client.

Comments Antony Norton, Managing Director of ADIEN "Our entire business is moving forward utilising PipeHawk's GPR technology.
The way the unique software works with layers of data makes it exceptional. Our clients are always impressed with the speed and accuracy of results and we're thriving on business referrals and recommendations. I'm pleased to say that, as a result, we are currently negotiating orders with potential well in excess of £1Million".

Mike Bushell, Pipe Hawk's Managing Director believes radar technology is the way forward, with the lack of information on the location of underground services following the deregulation of the utility companies - supply of accurate data is often an issue.

"Ground-probing radar is now becoming more widely accepted among utilities companies and their contractors as a means of significantly reducing the need to dig costly trial holes, whilst avoiding litigation arising out of incidents involving undetected electricity, gas, water or telecommunications cables and pipes".

"The recently introduced lane Charging System initiative, which imposes fee structures and penalty formulas on roadwork contractors, can only increase the need for the speed and accuracy Pipe Hawk's GPR technology coupled with ADIEN's specialist services are able to deliver"