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GPR Services · Vancouver Island

Pre-Excavation Scanning in Duncan, BC

The last check before the bucket goes in — full-corridor GPR + EM sweep of the dig zone for utilities, tanks, and obstructions. Serving Duncan and the Vancouver Island region with certified technicians, non-invasive methods, and insurance-ready documentation — since 1999.

GPR + EM
Dual sweep
0.3–4 m
Coverage depth
Same-day
Marks + report

Free phone consult · No pressure · Mon–Sat 8am–6pm PT

Duncan ground conditions & what they mean for GPR

Local geology: Duncan sits on Cowichan Valley alluvium — sands and silts with seasonal saturation. Summer scans reach well into the alluvium; winter saturation shortens range. Farm and First Nations lands carry generations of undocumented lines.

Local building stock: Compact heritage downtown, surrounding farm parcels, and valley acreages with legacy water systems.

Common pre-excavation scanning work in Duncan

  • Farm waterline mapping
  • Heritage-core utility identification
  • Acreage leak tracing
  • Excavation contractors
  • Pool and foundation digs
  • Service trench routing

How the Duncan site visit works

  1. 1

    Walk the dig plan

    Corridor and depth of the planned excavation define the survey footprint, with a safety margin.

  2. 2

    Dual-technology sweep

    EM finds live and conductive services; GPR finds plastic lines, tanks, duct banks, and the abandoned surprises.

  3. 3

    Mark everything

    Industry-standard colour codes on the ground; depth estimates flagged where targets cross the dig.

  4. 4

    Clearance documentation

    Photo-documented marks and a written report — the contractor's damage-prevention record.

Duncan questions, answered

We already called BC One Call. Why scan privately?

One Call marks public utilities to the property line and only those registered. Private services — irrigation, gas to outbuildings, landscape lighting, old septic, abandoned lines — are invisible to it. Most strikes happen on exactly those, and liability lands on whoever dug.

What do you find most often that records miss?

Abandoned-in-place services, owner-installed plastic gas and water runs, buried oil tanks in pre-1965 neighbourhoods, and duct banks that left the drawings decades ago. Every one is a strike that didn't happen.

How close to your marks can the machine dig?

Standard practice: mechanical excavation to within 60 cm of a mark, hand exposure from there. Our depth flags tell the operator when targets enter the cut profile.

Can you scan the morning of the dig?

Yes — same-day scans within business hours are routine. Marks go down, photos are taken, the report follows by email, and the excavation proceeds the same morning where scheduling allows.

How deep can GPR scan in Duncan?

Duncan sits on Cowichan Valley alluvium — sands and silts with seasonal saturation. Summer scans reach well into the alluvium; winter saturation shortens range. Farm and First Nations lands carry generations of undocumented lines. We select antenna frequency to match — and where local ground limits radar depth, we pair GPR with electromagnetic locating, acoustic methods, or tracer gas so the survey objective is met regardless of soil conditions.

Do you actually work in Duncan, or dispatch from elsewhere?

Duncan is part of our standing Vancouver Island service area — the same certified technicians and equipment that cover the rest of the region. Scheduling is typically within 24–72 hours, with same-day response often possible during business hours (Mon–Sat, 8am–6pm Pacific).

What does pre-excavation scanning cost in Duncan?

Pricing matches our province-wide structure — no regional premium for Duncan. Most residential-scale work falls in the $350–$1,200 range depending on scope; commercial and multi-site projects are quoted after a free phone consult. Call 604-239-9934 and we will give you a tight estimate in five minutes.

Need pre-excavation scanning in Duncan?

Free phone consult with a certified GPR technician — we will tell you whether a survey is warranted and quote it in five minutes. No pressure.

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