Highway and utility professionals know that good working relationships are essential for solving problems and enhancing the process of utility relocation; yet achieving those relationships can be difficult. Another strategy, Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE), is an effective nondestructive engineering process that combines civil engineering, surveying, and geophysics with geophysical methods, nondestructive vacuum excavation, and computer technologies to collect and depict information about subsurface utilities. The cost effectiveness of SUE has been confirmed. Nonetheless, although stakeholders recognize the need for accurate and comprehensive information about subsurface utilities, many do not want to pay for SUE, do not understand the process, or are not convinced that SUE will yield what they need.
Abstract