Souder, Miller & Associates (SMA) provides subsurface utility engineering (SUE), utility locating, and utility mapping support for planning, permitting, design, and construction projects throughout New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. With in-house equipment and experienced field crews, SMA supports all recognized levels of SUE, helping public and private clients reduce utility conflicts, improve design confidence, and make better decisions before excavation, construction, or right-of-way work begins.
SUE is a risk-management process used to identify, designate, locate, map, and document underground utilities at the appropriate level of accuracy for each project phase. The Federal Highway Administration recognizes Quality Level A as the highest level of accuracy, involving nondestructive exposure of utilities to provide precise horizontal and vertical information, as well as utility characteristics such as type, size, condition, and material. SMA’s SUE and utility location services can be scaled from early planning and records research through design-level utility mapping and field verification.
Integrated Utility Information for Better Project Decisions
Underground utilities can create significant risk for transportation, site development, water, wastewater, drainage, environmental, energy, and private development projects. Unknown or incorrectly mapped utilities can lead to redesign, construction delays, change orders, safety hazards, and service disruptions. SMA helps clients address these risks by combining utility investigation with professional surveying, GIS, engineering, and environmental services.
As a firm focused on engineering, environmental, and geomatics services, SMA is positioned to deliver utility information that is not only located in the field, but also integrated into usable project deliverables. SMA’s geomatics team provides construction and layout surveys for utility, transportation, airport, rail, and other infrastructure projects, with processes intended to reduce construction delays and resolve conflicts between design and construction.
Services
SMA’s SUE and utility location support services may include:
- Utility records research and coordination with utility owners
- Surface feature inventory and survey of visible utility appurtenances
- Electromagnetic utility locating
- Ground penetrating radar, where site conditions are suitable
- Utility designation and field marking
- Test holes and nondestructive utility exposure
- Horizontal and vertical utility location
- Utility mapping and survey-grade data collection
- Integration with topographic survey, boundary survey, GIS, CAD, and design files
- Utility conflict identification and design support
- Construction-phase utility verification and staking support
- Support for public works, transportation, drainage, water, wastewater, site development, environmental, and private development projects
Support for Public Agencies, Private Owners, and Consulting Partners
SMA works with municipalities, counties, state and federal agencies, tribal entities, utilities, developers, contractors, industrial clients, and other engineering consulting firms. Whether serving as the prime consultant or as a specialized subconsultant, SMA can provide field-to-finish utility information that supports planning, permitting, design, bidding, and construction.
SMA’s experience serving public, private, tribal, and federal clients aligns well with projects requiring coordinated engineering, environmental, and geomatics support. SMA has provided engineering, environmental, and geomatics services since 1985, and its federal services experience includes land surveying, GIS data mapping and analysis, site development, water resources, environmental assessments, transportation design, and related infrastructure services.
Regional Reach, Local Knowledge
SMA provides SUE and utility location support across the Mountain West, with a focus on New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. SMA’s regional presence, local agency familiarity, and multidisciplinary project teams help clients navigate the practical realities of utility coordination, site access, field investigation, survey control, and design integration.
For more than 40 years, SMA has provided planning, environmental, geomatics, and engineering services throughout the Mountain West, with established relationships among local, state, federal, municipal, tribal, utility, and contractor stakeholders.
Why SMA
SMA’s equipment and multidisciplinary staff allow the firm to deliver all levels of SUE while integrating utility information with broader project needs. Rather than treating utility locating as a standalone field task, SMA can connect subsurface utility data with survey control, mapping, design, environmental constraints, and construction-phase requirements.
SMA helps clients:
- Reduce utility-related design and construction risk
- Improve confidence in existing conditions information
- Support safer excavation and construction planning
- Identify conflicts earlier in project development
- Improve coordination between owners, designers, contractors, and utility providers
- Create accurate, usable utility deliverables for design, permitting, and construction
From early feasibility through final design and construction support, SMA provides practical SUE and utility location services that help projects move forward with better information and fewer surprises.
Contact
For more information, contact SUE@soudermiller.com.