GPR Scanning Services in Texas
Electromagnetic locating traces metallic lines fast, but it goes quiet on PVC, conduit, and abandoned pipe. We run GPR alongside EM on every project to find what EM can't, check trench and bore paths, and flag voids and anomalies before your crew breaks ground.
What Ground Penetrating Radar Does on Site
GPR transmits radar pulses into the ground or into concrete and reads the reflections in the field to identify buried utilities, rebar, voids, and other subsurface features. Unlike electromagnetic locating, it doesn't need a metallic or traceable signal to see a target, which makes it the tool for the lines and conditions EM can't reach.
- Traces PVC, conduit, and abandoned lines that carry no signal for EM locating
- Verifies utility conflicts before trenching, boring, or excavation
- Screens bore paths ahead of HDD and directional drilling
- Identifies subsurface anomalies and voids before crews dig
- Reads through congested utility corridors where lines run close together
GPR has real limits, and we plan around them instead of glossing over them. Wet, high-clay soils, common across the Blackland Prairie and the Gulf Coast gumbo belt, attenuate radar signal and cut into depth of penetration. We select antenna frequency for each site based on soil conditions and target depth, and we run GPR alongside EM locating rather than on its own. For critical crossings, potholing or vacuum excavation is still the method that confirms exact depth.
