ROT - Ground radar & Carports

L

Lee_D

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #1

Ok, I've had a beer or two I admit but I need to know...

We have some of the mains drains running across our plot which is why I have
such a wide drive and garden. I'd like to bung up a large 101 stylie carport
but would need to know where these drains are exactly.

Now Severn Trent have said they will do a survey at £50 an hour to check the
drains with cctv down them to give me the OK to build close to them but this
would be a waste of money if they are too close to the house anyway.

I've seen chaps who dig up the streets waving what looks like an electronic
devining rod then marking the presence of water and gas pipes but would this
work for drains even if quite deep? Can you hire them? If so what are they
called? I can see both Manhole covers and assume a straight line which may
mean we are ok but still would like to know without digging a deep trench
for the hell of it.

Some one here must be in the know.

Lee
--
www.lrproject.com
Reaching the parts other Landrover restorers can't reach - JLo makes new
home in the USA.
Percy IIa - two Engines to the mile, awaits a new chassis.
Morph - He's "living the dream".

 

E

EMB

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #2

Lee_D wrote:

> I've seen chaps who dig up the streets waving what looks like an electronic
> devining rod then marking the presence of water and gas pipes but would this
> work for drains even if quite deep? Can you hire them? If so what are they
> called? I can see both Manhole covers and assume a straight line which may
> mean we are ok but still would like to know without digging a deep trench
> for the hell of it.

AFAIK they rely on conductivity of the pipe in question - plastic gas
and water pipes are buried with a wire strapped to the to enable these
location devices to work. As such a sewer unless made of metal is
unlikely to be traceable.

However there are companies using ground penetrating radar for pipe
location who don't seem to charge a huge sum of money for locating
pipes, and in the case of the crowd we use they accept responsibilty for
damage to any pipes or cables that they fail to locate.

Being at the opposite end of the universe my contacts are of no use to
you but it's probably worth a quick google to see if you can find anyone
local.

 

S

[email protected]

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #3

I do this sort of thing for a living.

Ground probing radar is expensive and not DIY. If we need to accurately
trace a drain run we use a radio sonde strapped to a CCTV camera and
RD4000 electrotracing detector, with the appropriate sized sonde you
can go up to 16m deep. You can hire all the equipment from places like
HSS.

£50 an hour is cheap, we charge by the shift at £575 for CCTV plus
£400 for me.

Your drain is likely to be a straight run between manholes but
occaisionally you get bends just outside.

Sean
73FL74 101GS
1984 110 2.5NA
Medway Military Vehicle Group
www.mmvg.net

 

S

[email protected]

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #4

I do this sort of thing for a living.

Ground probing radar is expensive and not DIY. If we need to accurately
trace a drain run we use a radio sonde strapped to a CCTV camera and
RD4000 electrotracing detector, with the appropriate sized sonde you
can go up to 16m deep. You can hire all the equipment from places like
HSS.

£50 an hour is cheap, we charge by the shift at £575 for CCTV plus
£400 for me.

Your drain is likely to be a straight run between manholes but
occaisionally you get bends just outside.

Sean
73FL74 101GS
1984 110 2.5NA
Medway Military Vehicle Group
www.mmvg.net

 

B

Buzby

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #5

"Lee_D" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ok, I've had a beer or two I admit but I need to know...
>
> We have some of the mains drains running across our plot which is why I
> have such a wide drive and garden. I'd like to bung up a large 101 stylie
> carport but would need to know where these drains are exactly.
>
> Now Severn Trent have said they will do a survey at £50 an hour to check
> the drains with cctv down them to give me the OK to build close to them
> but this would be a waste of money if they are too close to the house
> anyway.
>
> I've seen chaps who dig up the streets waving what looks like an
> electronic devining rod then marking the presence of water and gas pipes
> but would this work for drains even if quite deep? Can you hire them? If
> so what are they called? I can see both Manhole covers and assume a
> straight line which may mean we are ok but still would like to know
> without digging a deep trench for the hell of it.


Get two welding rods, bend into an 'L' shape.

Hold the rods level loosely by the shorter bit about a foot apart pointing
everso slightly downwards to make sure they just point forwards.

Start walking - when they cross you'll have found the pipe directly beneath
you.

Don't ask me how it works - it just does! We recently successfully traced a
water pipe over half a mile across fields to find a leak using this method.

 

I

Ian Rawlings

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #6

On 2006-05-02, Buzby <[email protected]> wrote:

> Don't ask me how it works - it just does! We recently successfully traced a
> water pipe over half a mile across fields to find a leak using this method.

Personally I have used the innards of a goat to good effect.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

 

T

Tom Woods

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #7

On Tue, 2 May 2006 07:36:35 +0100, "Buzby" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Get two welding rods, bend into an 'L' shape.
>
>Hold the rods level loosely by the shorter bit about a foot apart pointing
>everso slightly downwards to make sure they just point forwards.
>
>Start walking - when they cross you'll have found the pipe directly beneath
>you.
>
>Don't ask me how it works - it just does! We recently successfully traced a
>water pipe over half a mile across fields to find a leak using this method.

This works for me too. Dad found the mains pipe at my parents house
like this. and i found the drain cover in the back yard here (that
someone had helpfully covered with a patio!)

You can use a cut up metal coathanger if you dont have any welding
rods around

 

S

Steve Taylor

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #8

Ian Rawlings wrote:

> Personally I have used the innards of a goat to good effect.
>

What you do in the privacy of your own home is no business of ours.
Thank you.

Steve

 

E

EMB

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #9

Ian Rawlings wrote:
> On 2006-05-02, Buzby <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>Don't ask me how it works - it just does! We recently successfully traced a
>>water pipe over half a mile across fields to find a leak using this method.
>
>
> Personally I have used the innards of a goat to good effect.
>

Was that with a side order of sacrificial virgins? ;-)

--
EMB

 

I

Ian Rawlings

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #10

On 2006-05-02, Steve Taylor <[email protected]> wrote:

> What you do in the privacy of your own home is no business of ours.
> Thank you.

Certainly helped me clear out my pipes!

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

 

D

Danny

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #11

Tom Woods wrote:
> On Tue, 2 May 2006 07:36:35 +0100, "Buzby" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>Get two welding rods, bend into an 'L' shape.
>>
>>Hold the rods level loosely by the shorter bit about a foot apart pointing
>>everso slightly downwards to make sure they just point forwards.
>>
>>Start walking - when they cross you'll have found the pipe directly beneath
>>you.
>>
>>Don't ask me how it works - it just does! We recently successfully traced a
>>water pipe over half a mile across fields to find a leak using this method.
>
>
> This works for me too. Dad found the mains pipe at my parents house
> like this. and i found the drain cover in the back yard here (that
> someone had helpfully covered with a patio!)
>
> You can use a cut up metal coathanger if you dont have any welding
> rods around
>

We found that two coathanger wires bent in the long L shape, with the
handle ends placed in empty bic biros worked well in allowing the
wires to move freely whilst the diviner holds the pens.

--
Regards,
Danny

http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
http://www.dannyscoffee.com (UK advert for my mobile espresso service)
http://www.malabargold.co.uk (UK/European online ordering for Malabar
Gold blend)
swap Z for above characters in email address to reply

 

I

Ian Rawlings

Guest

• May 2, 2006

• #12

On 2006-05-02, EMB <[email protected]> wrote:

> Was that with a side order of sacrificial virgins? ;-)

They only need to be virgins on delivery, virginity isn't vital for
the actual finding of the water pipes..

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!