L-rod dowsing technique to locate burried utilities

TiGeo

TiGeo

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Found this looking through my treasure trove of files today from my time in mining production (mineral sands) as a mine geologist. Figured the BITOG Kollective/Overlords would enjoy. This is circa 2008 or so. Used this slide in a morning production meeting...those guys all thought I was nuts 🤣

Dowsing hit flags were placed before utility markout was completed. We hit the line anyway 🤣🤣🤣 whoops. I even used two small HDPE pipe stub ends to remove my hands from directly touching the wires...

Who needs 811 utility locate when we have this powerful technology using two wire pin flags?
dowsing.webp
 
I have used L shaped copper rods for years to locate utilities. They are very accurate. I have actually found things that Miss Utility missed. Interestingly some people cannot get results with the rods.
 
@TiGeo , where was the line hit in relation to the located and dowsed flags? I can use the L-rods to find lines, my BIL used them in his job with the water department at a small town. Mrs. AZJ was a locator for the gas company for a few years, kind of a high stress job that she took very seriously and never had a hit line. She used a fancy instrument not bent wires.
 
AZjeff said:
@TiGeo , where was the line hit in relation to the located and dowsed flags? I can use the L-rods to find lines, my BIL used them in his job with the water department at a small town. Mrs. AZJ was a locator for the gas company for a few years, kind of a high stress job that she took very seriously and never had a hit line. She used a fancy instrument not bent wires.
Click to expand...
It's right there in the picture.
 
It works, just need to practice at it. I practiced it with welding rods for 36 yrs. Learned from an old timer on the job at Con-Ed Utility Company in NY. Saved my behind many times. There were no " utility locating companies" in 1986 when I started. You had the rods and blue prints. Now, mind you, if you're in in rocky area, chances are you will be wrong. The iron in the rocks throws the rods off. But if you're looking in good, clean fill, you will find ANYTHING metal, especially copper, as in water service lines. Cast Iron can be tricky because it builds a layer of corrosion around it, muffling the iron. I always had a set on my utility truck. I was good at it. You needed the right touch on how to hold those rods. Some guys say " it's you're blood type that makes the difference", I could go on and on for 36 years.
 
AZjeff said:
@TiGeo , where was the line hit in relation to the located and dowsed flags? I can use the L-rods to find lines, my BIL used them in his job with the water department at a small town. Mrs. AZJ was a locator for the gas company for a few years, kind of a high stress job that she took very seriously and never had a hit line. She used a fancy instrument not bent wires.
Click to expand...
@AZjeff apologies. I thought you were asking where the dowse vs. utility locator flags were.

To answer your question no clue. The mining area gets jumbled up as you can see. I just remember the phone line (mutil color lots of wires) hanging out of the highwall....I'll blame night shift 🤣 This wasn't an issue of bad marking...more of incompetence...
 
I remember working a large site that Miss Utility had marked off in various places. I was spot on every time. And then my rods starting crossing where nothing was marked. It repeatedly did this. And then I looked up and realized that it was picking up an overhead wire.
 
Back when I was young, working in the field as a Natural Gas Construction mechanic, we'd call them " divining rods ". This was in New York. Actually, any metal rod would work. Bend them to a 90 degree angle a little over 3/4 length of the rod, and hold them straight out, about 1' apart from each other. Walk slowly, and they would cross each other. If that kinda lined up with you're own scale ruler measurements, start digging. Like I said, in 1986, there were no utility markout companies. You were on you're own. No backhoe's either. Just a jackhammer, digging bar, and shovel. No wonder I'm recovering from 2nd back surgery. Between the job, and cars, my back didn't stand a chance. Markout companies showed up in the late 90's. And they were terrible, and still are. They don't care. Just wanna put flags in the dirt, or paint the street, and move on to the next job. I know the equipment they use. Nothing more than a metal detector. Maybe it will have a 2' deep range. They use the blue prints. Same ones I had. We used them as scapegoats when there was a damage. Put the blame on them. Frig em. 36 yrs experience with those rods. I was right 95% of the time. They work.
 
In my experience it's always been the operator at fault not the tool used to find buried lines. I've hit water, phone and cable that were not even close to the flag or painted lines.
 
Pablo said:
Same

I know exactly where point to point lines are and when the person comes to mark them it’s 2-3 feet either direction
Click to expand...
Hit a high pressure water main on a Sunday many years ago and it was twenty feet from the mark. It ruined my electric trench and darn near knocked me off the ditchwitch. They marked the line according to some old blueprints.
 
I retired in 2022. Locating contracts go out to the lowest bidder. Had many dealings with them and their equipment. They are using GARBAGE in NY Con-Ed Utility territory. All old stuff. They mostly mark by blue print. Yes, they have the box, and a few other worthless toys. But the locators themselves don't care. Just want to flag / paint/ move on to the next job. They get a 3' margin of error. 1.5 ft either direction of the mark/flag. They must be making peanuts. I never trusted their marks. Used it as a reference, since I was crew leader. I would always use my scale ruler against the blue prints to double check . Con-Ed blue prints are not the best either. They started going downhill in the 60's. The prints from the 30's & 40's were very good. Another old timer taught me how to use the scale ruler. He was a good guy.
 
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