Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is our go-to technology for a good portion of our underground scanning projects. GPR uses electromagnetic waves to penetrate a surface, without causing damage, to discover where subsurface items are located. It is great for locating buried utilities, such as electrical lines, gas lines, pipes, septic systems, and more, so you can safely dig in an area without disturbing them. It can also be used to scan concrete slabs to locate post tension cables or rebar, or to check for reinforcements in a cinderblock wall. GPR is great technology, but it is far from perfect ..read more

Every once in a while, a technology comes along that makes a huge impact on an industry. LiDAR in the commercial construction industry is one of them. While LiDAR has been used for decades in various capacities, it has only been in this century that it has really been used for commercial applications. Before that, it was basically only used by the military and NASA. As of 2020, you can even find basic LiDAR technology in your iPhone! The uses for LiDAR are varied, but laser scanning for commercial buildings is highly beneficial to the commercial construction industry. Here why: Creating As-Bui ..read more

At Enhanced Scanning, we like to say that we’re experts at “finding the unfindable.” That phrase may seem like an oxymoron. (Afterall, how can you find something that’s unfindable?) What we really mean when we say this is that we find things that others consider unfindable. There are a lot of companies and independent contractors out there who specialize in GPR scanning. They will come to your property with their ground penetrating radar (GPR) system and do a scan of the area in question. If your project is simple and straightforward, like if you just need to locate rebar in a slab of concrete ..read more

Most of our clients in need of concrete scanning are not necessarily concrete experts. More often than not, they are building owners or general contractors who want to make changes to a building but first need to know where it is safe to drill, cut, or core into their concrete slab. Because they aren’t concrete experts, they often don’t know exactly what to ask for. They might come to us asking for a “concrete X-ray” when GPR concrete scanning would be a much better choice for their specific project. At Enhanced Scanning, we don’t expect or need you to be a concrete scanning expert—that’s what ..read more

Here’s a scenario that happens more often than you might think: A building project is getting ready to start. The excavator or trencher is on site and its operator says, “Have you marked out where all of your underground utilities are located?” If the property owner or general contractor hasn’t done so, the project usually comes to a screeching halt. Very few equipment operators will be willing to risk their own lives, or risk causing expensive damage to their equipment or the property by digging without knowing what’s underneath the ground’s surface. If this happens to you, you need to get an ..read more

We like to think of ourselves as ground penetrating radar aficionados. We’re more than just utility scanners. We’re a team that’s truly passionate about the technology, and we die a little inside every time we hear someone say, “GPR is just a fancy metal detector.” The uses of GPR are far more powerful than those of a metal detector. It’s a powerful and innovative technology that presents numerous possibilities. And yes, it also has its limitations. We wanted to take an opportunity to share a little about GPR technology, including some history, different GPR uses, and the current limitations ..read more

It’s not often we get the chance to perform GPR scanning in Alaska, so we were thrilled when we got a call from our colleague asking if we’d be interested in helping perform concrete scanning in Alaska since she wasn’t available for the project. Three weeks and one day later, we were on a flight to a concrete military building in central Alaska. Project Details: Concrete + Metal + Freezing Temps = Voids Like most of our throwback stories, this concrete building wasn’t your average poured-in-place concrete structure. No, this military building was meant to guard against HEMP (high-altitude ele ..read more

Our founder and CEO, Forrest Sim, recently had the opportunity to get his hands on some of the latest GPR equipment and other new technologies in the global excavation industry. We’re breaking down his experience and takeaways around emerging ground penetrating radar technology, industry trends, and other important take-aways concerning safe excavation. Exploring New Technologies in Ground Penetrating Radar Testing out the latest antennas on the market is one of the ways that our team at Enhanced Scanning stays up to date on new technology. Forrest had the opportunity to try out the latest an ..read more

Have you heard about 5G street lights? They’re basically just modified street lights enabled with 5G technology. Instead of using a separate tower or facility to provide 5G, companies can use 5G street lights instead. Pretty cool stuff. But, to do that, those companies have to first hire an underground utility locator to ensure that it’s safe to dig up the old lights and replace them with the new ones. That’s where we come in. Here at Enhanced Scanning, we’ve been part of numerous exciting projects, like finding a whale skeleton, exploring an underground cave, and locating underground objects ..read more

Choosing the right GPR antenna might sound simple, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. You have to know what you need. Otherwise, you could spend a lot of money on a tool that doesn’t work well for what you’re trying to do. Think of it this way. There are thousands of artists in the world, but painters don’t necessarily use the same tools as sculptors. Sure, they both use brushes, but they’re very different types of brushes with very distinct applications. It’s the same with ground penetrating radar equipment. GPR is like an art form, where masters of specific fields don’t have the same ..read more