Vermont Underground Locators is now part of Bowman

Bowman is a national professional services firm offering multi-disciplinary engineering, planning, surveying, geomatics, construction management, environmental consulting, landscape architecture, and right-of-way acquisition. Formerly a subsidiary of Trudell Consulting Engineers (TCE), we continue to provide the same reliable utility locating services as part of the Bowman family.

Bowman

Services We Provide

LAND SURVEYING & UTILITY MAPPING

GROUND PENETRATING RADAR (GPR)

ABOUT US

HOW IT ALL BEGAN…

It was 1984 and Richard “Dick” Mulvaney was working for Vermont Gas in downtown Burlington, Vt. While jack hammering in the street, he hit two power lines. One was 13.8kv (13,800 volts) and the other 7.2kv (7,200 volts). Although other lines in the vicinity had been marked, these two were not. Dick spent the next two months in the hospital and the next two years recovering. The doctors used the word “miracle” freely, for with the amount of damage his body sustained, he should not have survived. Yet two years after the accident, in 1986, Dick was back to work at Vermont Gas this time learning to locate their facilities. In 1992 Dick started his own locating company, Vermont Underground Locators, and had been at it ever since.

“A missed mark is not an option.” ~ Richard Mulvaney

A NEW CHAPTER…

In January 2017, Dick sold the assets of the firm. During the transition, he continued to work part-time in the summertime. Dick went on to fully enjoy the benefits of retirement, and Vermont Underground Locators became a branch within the Field Services Department of Trudell Consulting Engineers. From there, the staff continued to grow

EXPANDING OUR REACH…

In February 2024, Trudell Consulting Engineers was acquired by Bowman, a national engineering and consulting firm. Vermont Underground Locators continues to operate as part of that broader organization, with the same team and commitment to accurate, reliable utility locating services you’ve come to expect.

Get in Touch

WORKING AS PART OF THE BOWMAN TEAM

As part of Bowman (formerly Trudell Consulting Engineers), Vermont Underground Locators serves as the dedicated utility locating division. Working within a larger, multi-disciplinary, and uniquely integrated team gives us the advantage of offering a comprehensive suite of services to our clients in-house.

Bowman Vermont (formerly TCE)

Bowman

RATES

SERVICE	HOURLY RATES
General Locate	Free Estimate upon request
GPR UtilityScan GPR MiniXT Concrete	Free Estimate upon request
Camera Inspection	Free Estimate upon request
Mobilization Fee	Free Estimate upon request
Vacuum Excav, Geophysical EM61, utility, or other surveys	Free Estimate upon request

We typically estimate our work based on 1/4, 1/2 or full days. Call us for a free estimate.

Mobilization Fee (when applicable)

Travel time is billed to and from Williston, VT. plus the Federal Standard Mileage Rates.

Cancellation Fee

We require 24 hours notice for cancellation, otherwise a $150 fee will be assessed.

Estimating

Most locates come under the General Locate category and don’t involve the use of GPR, Cameras, or Mapping. Marking of municipal sewer and storm drain will usually require GPR, however, we find that for most projects these aren’t of any concern. For residential and small commercial, we usually assume 20 minutes per utility unless the site is unusually large or congested with utilities. Give us a call and we can help you with an estimate for your site.

Helpful Hints

These are some things that can help your locate go quickly and smoothly:

Prepare a clear description of the scope of work and what does/doesn’t need to be marked.
Gather any prints or documentation that may give us an idea of where to look for things such as underground storage tanks.
If you will not be on site at the time of the mark-out, premark the area clearly in white (Hint—it should already be pre-marked for Dig Safe.)

FAQ

Q. What is Dig Safe?

Dig Safe is a non-profit organization in Vermont and other New England states, offering the free service of dispatching local public utilities to mark the location of their lines before a homeowner or contractor digs for any type of project. Before you dig, call Dig Safe. But after you call Dig Safe, call Vermont Underground Locators to find any private utilities or other underground lines that Dig Safe isn’t tasked with marking.

Click here to learn more.

Q. How far down can you "see"?

Unfortunately, we cannot actually see underground any better than you can. However we have specialized equipment that we use such as ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic locators that we use to determine the approximate depth and location of utilities. In some cases GPR can identify utilities below ground up to 15 feet below the surface. When we’re locating a conductive line (TV, phone, power, gas, etc.), we have found lines that are more than 30′ deep. We also have up to 400’ of camera line we can use to probe inside a pipe and determine its condition and location.

Q. When you talk about locating “conductive” lines, does that mean that you’re using a metal detector?

No. We use various electromagnetic transmitters to put a signal on each line then follow it out with a receiver tuned to the same frequency. This means we cannot always get a good signal on non-conductive pipe materials such as PVC or concrete. However, we have specialized equipment and over 25 years of experience we use to “find” those hard to find utilities.

Q. What's the difference between public and private utilities?

Public utilities are installed by utility companies to provide service to an area. These lines are owned and maintained by the public utility company regardless of whether they are located on public or private property. Public utilities typically include gas, power, and electric.

Private utilities are those which go beyond service meters or public utilities, often onto privately owned property. Examples of private utilities can include electrical feeders and gas mains running through parking lots or to critical facilities such as hospitals or fire stations. They can also include lines running to and from substations, heavy industrial facilities, and refineries. These utilities would be owned and maintained by the property owner, placing them outside of the jurisdiction of public utility locating companies.

Q. Do you do geophysical surveys and/or located underground storage tanks?

Yes, we use a Geonics EM61 Mark II, which is a powerful time domain metal detector that is able to detect both ferrous and non-ferrous metal using a single transmitter coil and two receiver coil. It generates a magnetic field from the transmitter inducing eddy currents in nearby metal objects. The Geonics EM-61 Mark II detects a single 200-litre (55 gal) drum at a depth of over 3 meters (10 feet) beneath the instrument, yet is relatively insensitive to nearby cultural interference, such as fences, buildings and power lines. Response is a single, sharply defined peak, greatly facilitating quick & accurate location of the target. Depth of the target can usually be estimated from the width of the response. In addition to our ground penetrating radar, and other metal detecting equipment we can accurately locate metal objects located below the surface. We also use Trimble RTK GPS to locate above or below ground features and can produce high quality GIS or AutoCAD maps. All our work is done under the supervision of a (VT and NH) registered land surveyor.

Q. Who is required to participate as a subscribing member utility?

Who may participate voluntarily, and what they must mark, varies from state to state. For instance, power companies are ALL required to participate in all states. However, what they mark varies.

For example, in Vermont, most power companies only mark from the street to the meter. This means that if your meter is on a pole down by the road, the line from that pole up to your house will not be marked. But the telephone may be marked all the way to the house.

In New York, the secondary power, power after the transformer but before the meter, may not get marked once it crosses on to private property.

Usually, municipal sewer and water are not required to participate; they usually do on a voluntary basis though. In some places, utilities will provide positive response, eg; marking NO FPTel or NO VTGas to let you know that they’ve been there. Other places and utilities do not have this requirement.

In general, Dig Safe is an invaluable program and protects many lives and infrastructure. It is a great starting point and the LAW – SO ALWAYS CALL 811 or visit www.digsafe.com BEFORE YOU DIG.

At Vermont Underground Locators we go above and beyond the limitations of Dig Safe and can further assist you with locating private utilities within your work area to the best of our ability and within the limitations of our equipment. Our experienced locating technicians can also survey and map your utilities for future reference. We carefully document our work and can be an invaluable part of your construction or design project. In addition we can assist with finding power faults, or doing camera inspection services on various buried utilities.