Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia National Laboratories is developing a real-time, drill-mounted, cross-bore detector using ground penetrating radar to reduce the risk of damaging existing utilities while installing new underground power lines. Unlike other drill-mounted ground penetrating radar sensors that measure broad frequency bands and produce large quantities of data that make real-time communication with surface systems difficult, the proposed sensor uses a narrow band frequency domain. The result is a system capable of detecting cross-bore events with high resolution within one foot, using directional drill rod integrated sensors and advanced communication channels to avoid collisions.