Utility Corridor

Utility corridors concentrate multiple types of underground infrastructure — water mains, sanitary sewers, storm drains, natural gas lines, electric cables, telecommunications conduits, and fiber optic lines — into shared linear pathways. Urban utility corridors beneath major streets may contain a dozen or more separate utility systems at varying depths and horizontal positions, creating a complex subsurface environment.

Working in utility corridors presents significant challenges for excavation contractors. The density of buried infrastructure means that virtually any excavation within the corridor has the potential to encounter multiple utilities. Accurate utility locating and non-destructive excavation methods are essential to prevent damage. Hydrovac excavation is often the only method permitted within congested utility corridors because it allows operators to safely navigate around existing utilities.

Modern utility corridor management increasingly relies on comprehensive mapping and SUE data to document the three-dimensional positions of all utilities within the corridor. This information is maintained in GIS databases and used by engineers to plan new utility installations, road reconstruction projects, and maintenance activities. Hydrovac potholing is a primary source of the verified position data that populates these corridor databases.