Man on a Mission
Brian Holder’s Utility Locator, LLC operates lean by design
It’s a one-man show, literally, at Utility Locator, LLC. One man shows contractors what they need to see on matters related to the utilities and other potential obstacles that are underground, where future construction or technical work will happen.
Utility Locator’s President, Brian Holder, is also the company’s lone crewmember, office administrator, technician, and sales & marketing guy. He believes that this solo approach is a clear advantage for his customers.
“When you call, I’m the one who answers,” he says. “Then I’m out in the field; I know what’s going on. There aren’t 10 to 15 people involved in the project.”
Underneath the Surface
His streamlined and independent approach also creates a personal factor to what otherwise could be an unknown maze of information for contractors. The popular choice for locating utilities is contacting the ubiquitous Call 811 service, a nationwide group of state and nonprofit organizations that contact only the utility companies that are members of the 811 network. However, not all utility providers are members.
“If a company is not a member, then Call 811 doesn’t have the utility information on file and likely has no idea that the company even exists, let alone if it has utilities near the excavation area,” Holder says.
As a result, the Call 811 service informs contractors of only about 68 percent of what’s underground. The other 32 percent of “unknowns” includes privately owned utilities or utilities on private property. Hospitals, apartments, condominiums, business campuses and universities, for example, are often privately owned and would not be in the 811 system.
“Often, most construction professionals believe ‘one call marks it all,’ but sadly that’s not the case,” Holder says. “Damage to one of these systems could cost a fortune in downtime, particularly since the system may need to be repaired by a specialty contractor.”
Also, Call 811 does not help with utilities under an existing building. When major work must be done under a structure, a utility locator like Holder’s company is called in.
Holder spent many years developing the unique focus required for this line of work. He recalls being a curious, entrepreneurial-minded child who was especially drawn to technology. As a young adult he tried out various jobs, including auto detailing, delivering newspapers, landscaping and even managing a gas station.
Eventually, he discovered work that merged construction and utilities. Fifteen years ago, he and a buddy had the opportunity to get a company truck and equipment to perform utilities work. He’s been hooked on this line of work ever since. Prior to opening his own business, Holder spent 10 years in utilities-related jobs and another five as a project manager for an engineering firm in Delaware.
Putting all that experience together, he started Utility Locator in late 2016. Based in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, the company performs work in its home state as well as in New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
Low and Behold
One of Holder’s most important duties is to educate customers on the process, technology, techniques and outcomes of a site visit. At the conclusion of his work, clients receive utility mark-outs, field reports, field sketches and site photographs.
Today’s sophisticated utilities-location equipment can probe 10 to 12 feet into the earth, which is necessary because oftentimes a designated site will have as many as five to 10 buried utilities. Holder’s equipment includes two electromagnetic locators, one endoscope and two ground-penetrating radar (GPR) devices. Most site visits require four to eight hours of work. During that time, Holder meticulously preps and scans the earth and any above-ground utility connector or meter to determine near-exact utility locations under the ground.
“The services provided by Utility Locator require a specialty skill set that is developed over many years,” he says. “It’s not just about the equipment; you also have to have a thorough understanding of utility infrastructure.”
His electromagnetic and GPR devices can detect everything—even utilities encased in concrete and those in non-conductive plastic. The electromagnetic devices work by transmitting an electromagnetic frequency through the conductive material of an underground utility. This solution works with water pipes, electric, TV or telephone cables and power lines.
GPR is similar to police radar in that a signal is sent from the device and received back after it bounces, or reflects, off a buried object. It is useful for detecting underground utilities, tanks and vaults, and is widely used in forensic investigations to detect clandestine grave sites, buried caches and weapons.
If needed, Holder also performs vacuum evacuation to safely expose underground utilities for precise evaluation, condition assessment and repair. He completes the job, if necessary, by restoring original asphalt or concrete at the site.
Another service he provides is video pipe inspection, which can help clients solve a wide range of problems with underground pipes and conduit. An endoscopic robot can intricately inspect pipes between 2 and 76 inches in diameter.
The team of one has racked up an impressive list of worksite locations. Signature projects include The Navy Yard development in Philadelphia; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Air Liquide USA in Morrisville, Pennsylvania; the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s East Rutherford Operations Center in New Jersey; Trenton-Mercer Airport in West Trenton, New Jersey; the U.S. Coast Guard Sandy Hook Station in New Jersey; and the Ambler Asbestos Piles Superfund site in Pennsylvania.
The depth that Holder goes to for his customers contrasts with the height of his optimism for the future of his young, small company.
“Every year, more and more utilities get buried and more and more are displaced, lost [in the records] or abandoned, and so this service is more and more important,” Holder says.
There are no plans to expand yet. He says his clients value the relationship they have with him and Utility Locator, and the personal attention they receive from working with a single-member LLC.