Groundtracer - tracing pipelines

Since May 2007 Teccon bvba has made use of ground tracer technology in order to map, among others, underground objects (pipelines, rubble, ) and contamination. The ground tracer technology is new and innovative in Belgium.

GROUNDTRACER

The groundtracer is a combination of, on the one hand, a conventional ground radar and on the other hand a potentiometer:

• With a high frequency the radar sends radio waves and measures the echo of those electromagnetic pulses.As a result of this strata transitions (clay-sand-) and physical disruptions (rubble, concrete bulk, pipelines, ) in the soil can be established.
• The tracer measures differences in electric potential at the soil surface. The presence of cables, pipelines, contamination, leaks, causes a small, measurable disturbance in the electric potential distribution at the soil surface.

The combination of these two technologies measures the depth (Z) of underground objects with an accuracy of several centimetres. The positioning (XY) takes place by means of a measuring wheel or by linkage to a GPS system.

The extra value of the ground tracer technology is that without drilling activities a better founded action plan can be formulated for a location. After the scanning and the data processing the necessary drilling and excavation activities can be initiated in a more directed way.

What can Teccon do for you?

With this technology we can map the composition of the subsoil, the location of environmentally foreign objects and certain types of soil contamination.

With our combination ground tracer-radio detection-GPS total station we can offer a broad range of applications; below you will find some examples of applications that were applied successfully by Teccon:

CABLE AND PIPELINE DETECTION

Measurements with the ground tracer in combination with the ground radar resulted, in 99 percent of the cases, in a correct indication of the presence of cables or pipelines at a certain depth. There is also a specific application for environments surrounding rail tracks. For the constructor of railways this technology is interesting since the tracer experiences less disruption from overhead contact wires, rails, and concrete sleepers.

TRACING LEAKAGES

Contamination and leakages cause a small, measurable disruption in the electric potential distribution at the soil surface. During the scanning of the pipeline the leakage can be traced, with an indication of the disrupted zone.

TRACING ENVIRONMENTALLY FOREIGN OBJECTS

By means of the ground tracer the subsoil can be mapped three-dimensionally without drilling or excavation. The tracing of piles, metal objects (underground vessels, oil tanks, ), hollow spaces and cellars, archaeological objects, or research on dumps are typical applications. Among other things, a filled meander was successfully mapped, with an indication of the thickness of the rubble, dump, and raised layer.

BEARINGS

The tracer can be equipped with an underwater antenna. We mount the system on a Zodiac, so that:

• bearings can be carried out;
• the water soil can be researched for environmentally foreign objects (explosives, rubble, cables, and pipelines on or below this water soil);
• the silt layer thickness of the sediment layers can be determined;
• research is possible on soil erosion, for example below bridges.

ADVANTAGES OF THE GROUND TRACER TECHNOLOGY

• The technology is non-destructive. As a result of this a site is directly freely accessible again upon conclusion of the measurements. In a number of cases locations only need to be locked off partially.
• At depths of more than one and a half metres the existing technologies often no longer provide a solution. The tracer is not hindered by depth, strong conductivity, or clay soil.

Teccon has several antennas at its disposal, as a result of which a correct implementation for each application is possible.