GPR Services · Metro Vancouver
Pre-Excavation Scanning in North Vancouver, BC
The last check before the bucket goes in — full-corridor GPR + EM sweep of the dig zone for utilities, tanks, and obstructions. Serving North Vancouver and the Metro Vancouver region with certified technicians, non-invasive methods, and insurance-ready documentation — since 1999.
Free phone consult · No pressure · Mon–Sat 8am–6pm PT
North Vancouver ground conditions & what they mean for GPR
Local geology: North Vancouver sits on coarse till and colluvium over shallow bedrock on the mountain slopes. Coarse till scans cleanly until bedrock ends penetration — often within 1–2 m on upper slopes. Services squeezed into that shallow band image sharply.
Local building stock: Steep-lot homes with long private service runs, creek-adjacent properties, and mid-rise growth around Lonsdale.
Common pre-excavation scanning work in North Vancouver
- Service line leak tracing on steep lots
- Pre-excavation scans where bedrock forces shallow utilities
- Slab scanning in Lonsdale mid-rises
- Excavation contractors
- Pool and foundation digs
- Service trench routing
How the North Vancouver site visit works
- 1
Walk the dig plan
Corridor and depth of the planned excavation define the survey footprint, with a safety margin.
- 2
Dual-technology sweep
EM finds live and conductive services; GPR finds plastic lines, tanks, duct banks, and the abandoned surprises.
- 3
Mark everything
Industry-standard colour codes on the ground; depth estimates flagged where targets cross the dig.
- 4
Clearance documentation
Photo-documented marks and a written report — the contractor's damage-prevention record.
North Vancouver 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 North Vancouver?
North Vancouver sits on coarse till and colluvium over shallow bedrock on the mountain slopes. Coarse till scans cleanly until bedrock ends penetration — often within 1–2 m on upper slopes. Services squeezed into that shallow band image sharply. 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 North Vancouver, or dispatch from elsewhere?
North Vancouver is part of our standing Metro Vancouver 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 North Vancouver?
Pricing matches our province-wide structure — no regional premium for North Vancouver. 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.
Other GPR services in North Vancouver
Underground Utility Locating in North Vancouver
BC One Call stops at your property line. GPR + EM map everything inside it — water, gas, electrical, irrigation, drainage — before anyone digs.
View serviceUnderground Infrastructure Mapping in North Vancouver
Whole-site subsurface as-builts for campuses, facilities, and municipalities — every utility corridor mapped, depth-profiled, and delivered in CAD.
View servicePipe Tracing & Mapping in North Vancouver
Lost drawings, renovated buildings, mystery valves — GPR rebuilds the as-built picture of where every line actually runs.
View serviceSlab Thickness & Void Detection in North Vancouver
Find the washout before it becomes the sinkhole. GPR measures slab thickness and images the voids beneath floors, decks, and pavements.
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Pre-Excavation Scanning near North Vancouver
Need pre-excavation scanning in North Vancouver?
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.