T2 Utility Engineers Celebrates 30 Years of Subsurface Utility Engineering
T2 Utility Engineers, member of the Kiwa Group, is celebrating 30 years of providing Subsurface Utility Engineering services. Thanks to the support of clients and the work of our outstanding team members, T2ue provides Subsurface Utility Engineering and related services for more than 2,000 projects each year from 26 offices in the United States and four offices in Canada.
A lot has changed in the SUE industry over these past three decades including technology, new project delivery mechanisms, and much more. What has not changed is T2 Utility Engineers excellent team members, their commitment to safety, to quality management processes, and to innovation, proud to provide unparalleled field investigations and professional advice to support the success of each project T2ue are engaged with, by reducing utility-related risks.
Competence and professionalism over the years
Technology in many areas has experienced significant change, while in other areas older technologies remain part of our investigation best practices. The volume and level of detail of data and the speed at which data can be captured has increased exponentially. T2 Utility Engineers’ focus on SUE and related services means that they realize how important it is to continue to invest in acquiring the right technology and training for people, retaining the reputation of providing reliable, accurate information and advice, nevertheless, planning to stay a leader in our industry. Experience does matter in a SUE provider.
Here’s to the next 30 years and beyond!
Origins of SUE
The growth and development of T2 Utility Engineers corresponds quite nicely with the development of Subsurface Utility Engineering in the United States. The Federal Highway Administration, which strongly supports the use of SUE, has an extensive history on their website - SUE Then and Now. Being responsible for Federal roadway and highway funding and construction guidance, the FHWA recognized that the common approaches to dealing with utilities surrounding highway projects in the 1980s were not working. The basic approach was to deal with utilities during construction. Imagine doing that now.
By the late 1980s a few states’ highway engineers were beginning to use geophysics and vacuum excavation to learn more about subsurface utilities to minimize disruption to the roadways and buried infrastructure. No more digging with a shovel or backhoe. The Virginia Department of Transportation (DOT), Maryland DOT, Delaware and Pennsylvania DOT began requesting subsurface investigations. SUE started to evolve as the interest and awareness of the value of SUE investigations grew and continues to grow to this day.
In 1995, the FHWA and ASCE requested the development of Standards to present a system of classifying data and a consistent process for Subsurface Utility Engineering across the US. Started in 1995 and published in 2002, the ASCE 38-02 Standard was launched. Several members of T2 Utility Engineers’ team were active contributors in developing that Standard. They have their continued engagement supporting the industry Standards through our membership on the ASCE UESI Standards Committee, which is responsible for updating the Standard, including the recent update - ASCE 38-22.
T2 Utility Engineers’ major infrastructure projects have included SUE and Utility Coordination work as part of the multi-year rail transportation project on the Washington Dulles Airport, and the Gordie Howe International Bridge Design-Build, a $5.7 billion design-build P3 project consisting of a 1.5-mile cable-stayed bridge and border crossing across the Detroit River and to connect Detroit, Michigan in the United States and Windsor, Ontario in Canada.
In December 2021, through the integration of Intega into Kiwa, T2 Utility Engineers became part of the Kiwa Group, joining the team operating in Australia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, with the Kiwa Group Dutch headquarters, which proudly includes more than 1,900 employees across 100 offices.
The next chapter of the T2 Utility Engineers story has begun with the recent acquisition of Applied Professional Services (APS), a leading provider of utility locating services in Washington and Oregon, USA. The company provides a suite of utility locating services, including utility designating, vacuum excavation, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and video pipe inspection services (CCTV). APS will continue to provide those services as well as supporting the expansion of T2 Utility Engineers’ Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) services in the US Pacific Northwest region.
T2 Utility Engineers strives to be a trusted advisor by providing unparalleled service, the most reliable information, and sound advice based on our professional experience. Their priority is to add value to each project they are privileged to work on, looking forward to the next decades.
1993 – The truck that started it all. T2 Utility Engineers, then TBE, bought our first vac truck to support the SUE services we were providing for Florida DOT.