Airport Utility Survey and SUE for Aprons and Taxiways

What does an airport utility survey cover?

An airport utility survey maps the buried services under aprons, taxiways, runway shoulders, forecourts and cargo areas. It grades how reliable each finding is and gives the designer a drawing to plan new pavement, pits and trenches. Airports pack an unusual mix of underground utilities into a small area: lighting circuits, fuel lines, navigation aid cables, storm drains, water, power and telecom.

Two things make the work different from a city street. Airside time is short and tightly controlled, so the survey must finish inside agreed windows. The cost of a strike is also high, because a cut lighting circuit or fuel line can close a stand or a taxiway.

Which services lie under aprons and taxiways?

Airside networks are dense and layered, and most of them are critical to operations. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) handles them well. It sends electromagnetic waves through the pavement, and the receiving antenna picks up each echo from a duct, pipe or drain. On a typical apron expansion survey or airside cable mapping job we trace:

• Airfield ground lighting (AGL) cables in ducts or direct-buried, running from constant current regulator rooms to light fittings on taxiways, runways and stands.
• Aviation fuel hydrant lines and their pits on aprons at airports that use hydrant refuelling.
• Navigation aid and communication cables serving instrument landing equipment, surface sensors and airside buildings.
• Storm water drains and culverts that carry run-off from large paved surfaces.
• Power, water and fire mains feeding aerobridges, ground power units and airside buildings.
• Earthing and bonding networks around stands and equipment.

Many of these run in shared routes. For the way we survey and present those routes as a whole, see utility corridor mapping at a glance.

How is airside scanning organised?

Inside the airport's own permit, escort and closure system, with every person, vehicle and tool accounted for before and after each window. The operator sets the rules; our job is to plan the survey so it fits them.

1. Entry permits: crew members are put forward for the airside entry passes the airport requires, well before the start date.
2. Work windows: scanning on stands and taxiways is booked into closures agreed with airside operations, often at night.
3. Escort and radio: where required, our crew works with an airport escort vehicle and stays in contact with the controlling unit.
4. FOD control: tools and marking materials are counted in and out, and the area is walked for loose items before hand-back.
5. Hand-back: every zone is cleared and reported by the agreed time, even if the scan resumes the next night.

Owner records still matter on an airport. The principle of checking with each owner before any cut is set out in our article on this. The airport's own engineering, fuel and lighting teams are the first owners we consult.

What goes into an apron expansion survey?

An apron expansion survey covers the new stand area and the strip where new pavement will join the old. It also covers every route by which new lighting, fuel, drainage and power will connect back to existing networks. The joint strip deserves the most attention. It is where trenches for new ducts and drains will be cut through live pavement, and where old services are most likely to have been diverted without a record.

• Existing stand edge: lighting feeders, hydrant branches and drains that end at the old apron boundary.
• New footprint: often open ground with field drains, old cables and site services from earlier construction.
• Connection routes: the path back to regulator rooms, fuel valve pits and drainage outfalls.
• Haul and access roads: temporary routes for construction project traffic, checked for shallow services that could be crushed.

Runway shoulder and taxiway works follow the same logic over a longer, narrower strip, in shorter closures. For these we plan the scan so each night's section ends at a lighting circuit boundary, which makes the hand-back cleaner.

What quality level does each finding get?

Each service is graded by how it was found: from records only, by surface features, by geophysical survey, or by exposing it in a trial hole. The grade tells the designer how far to trust a line. On airports this matters because a lighting cable from an old drawing is not the same as one traced with a locator and confirmed at a pit. A GPR survey with locators lifts most airside lines to QL-B.

The levels are explained in full in a guide our clients use.

Landside and new airport projects

Landside, the survey looks more like urban work: forecourts, car parks, cargo terminals, approach roads and the links where airport services meet city mains. These tie-in points are where records from two owners overlap, and they cause a large share of strikes.

Large hubs such as Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport carry decades of layered services. Newer projects such as Noida International Airport at Jewar and Navi Mumbai International Airport have fresher records. Their connecting roads, power feeds and pipelines still cross farmland and village services that appear on no airport drawing. The Airports Authority of India and airport operators have engaged Mezux Touch directly for utility surveys. We also work for the contractors and consultants on their terminal and airside packages.

What drawings and data does the project receive?

A layered drawing on the airport grid, a utility schedule with the quality level of each line, and GIS data that can go into the airport's asset system. Lighting circuits, fuel, drainage and power sit on separate layers, so each department can check its own utility lines. The formats and options are listed under what we do: CAD and GIS utility mapping. For lighting and power cables specifically, our underground cable detection service explains how each circuit is traced.

We also flag what we could not resolve. A duct bank with many cables may show as one wide target on radar. We report it as a bank, note how many cables were traced through accessible pits, and suggest where a trial hole would settle the count. On an airport, that honest gap can decide whether a stand reopens on time.

What does an airport survey cost?

Rates follow our standard GPR card: ₹24 per metre for a standard scan, ₹32 per metre with L-sections, and GST on top. Projects in Delhi NCR have a ₹50,000 minimum order and other locations ₹1,00,000. Area scans on aprons are converted to scan length. Night windows, escort time and permit lead time are agreed in the written quote, not hidden in the rate. Trial holes for QL-A confirmation are priced separately once their number is known. Send the layout and the planned work zones to request a written estimate.

Frequently asked questions

Can you scan an apron while stands are in use?

Only the stands that operations release for the window. We split the apron into zones and scan each during its closure, so the rest of the apron keeps working.

Does radar work through thick concrete pavement?

Yes, though thick reinforced pavement reduces depth below it. A high frequency antenna reads the slab itself, while locators trace lighting and power cables underneath.

Can you find the fuel hydrant line without opening pits?

Steel hydrant lines show well on radar and locators in most aprons. Where a design depends on exact depth, we recommend a trial hole at an agreed point with the fuel operator present.

How do you avoid foreign object debris?

Everything taken airside is listed, counted back and checked before hand-back, and the work area is walked for loose items at the end of each window.

Do you work at night?

Yes. Most airside scanning happens in night closures. Our crew is planned and lit for night work.

Can our existing AGL drawings be updated with your results?

Yes. We can mark differences from the data collected on your drawings, or issue a fresh layered file as your new underground utility mapping record.

Written by Saniya Parveen · Technically reviewed by Rahul Rai · Updated 8 November 2026