Solution — Pipeline corridors
SUE Survey for Petroleum Pipeline Corridors and Crossings
We fix the true line and cover of a buried hydrocarbon pipeline, and everything sharing its corridor, before any machine works nearby.
Quick AnswerAn SUE survey for petroleum pipeline corridors locates the live line, its cathodic protection test posts and the fibre cable laid beside it. Every crossing service is graded by certainty before new works go near it. If the line sits inside a refinery or terminal fence, our SUE survey for refinery team works under the plant permit instead.
What does an SUE survey for petroleum pipeline crossings and corridors cover?
It answers three questions with evidence: where the pipeline is, how deep it lies today, and what else is buried within striking distance of your works. Each answer carries a quality level.
Subsurface utility engineering (SUE) treats underground utilities in layers: utility records, then surface evidence such as marker posts and test lead points, then electromagnetic tracing and ground penetrating radar. A supervised trial pit closes the gap where a bore or pile comes close. You can read more about SUE survey and the four quality levels on our service page.
Why is a pipeline right of use harder to read than it looks?
Because the mapped strip and the buried steel drift apart over time. Cross-country hydrocarbon lines in India are laid in a right of use acquired under the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962. The farmer keeps ploughing, but building, deep digging and tree planting over the pipe are restricted. On the ground, four complications recur:
- Changed cover: Field levelling can strip the soil over a line, while a raised road can bury it far deeper.
- A second service in the trench: Many operators lay a shallower fibre cable along the pipe for SCADA and leak detection.
- Deep crossings: Under a canal or highway, a drilled pipe can drop beyond radar range.
- Crowding near towns: Gas spurs, water mains, telecom ducts and power cables bunch up where the corridor meets a road, so utility mapping there needs a tighter grid.
When do project teams call us for pipeline work?
Mostly when another project has to cross or run beside a live line. Typical briefs are a four-lane road over a product line, a parallel railway doubling, an HDD bore under the corridor, or a boundary wall beside the strip. A single crossing needs a dense grid over about fifty metres; a parallel route needs transects along its length. We therefore ask for the drawing of your works before quoting.
How do we fix the line and its depth on site?
By combining the operator's records with two independent instruments, and by digging only where the numbers say the margin is thin. Our sequence for a crossing:
- Joint walk with the operator's representative: Marker posts, test lead points and valve stations are fixed with DGPS so the record line can be overlaid on site.
- Electromagnetic tracing: With consent, a signal goes on at a test lead point; otherwise the line is traced by induction or by following its cathodic current passively.
- Radar transects: GPR lines cross the corridor every few metres to confirm the steel pipe, the plastic fibre duct and any crossing drains.
- Trial pits where it counts: A hand-dug or vacuum excavated pit at the crossing, under the operator's supervision, lifts the line from QL-B to QL-A.
Radar times how long a short pulse takes to bounce off a buried pipe and return to the antenna: one of several geophysical methods we combine here. It cannot reach a pipe drilled ten metres or more under a canal, so that section is shown as a records position from the operator's HDD profile. Our page on more about underground pipeline detection explains how each pipe material responds to each instrument.
What you receive
A corridor plan and sections in your project coordinates, with the existing utility network and your works on one drawing. All utility data is graded.
| Deliverable | What it shows | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Corridor plan | Pipeline, fibre duct, crossing services, markers and test posts in your project coordinates | DWG + PDF |
| Crossing sections | Depth to top of pipe at each station, with the proposed works drawn in | DWG + PDF |
| Quality level schedule | QL-D to QL-A for every line segment, with the reason | Excel |
| Trial pit records | Photos, measured depth, pipe coating and condition seen | |
| Map overlay | Corridor and markers for the project team | KMZ / SHP |
Table note: if you also need the finished crossing recorded after construction, see what an as built survey costs. For file layers, symbols and report structure, read more on GPR survey deliverables.
Rates and timing for a pipeline corridor job
The radar and tracing part is billed by the metre surveyed; trial pits and standby days are added as separate lines.
- Standard GPR scanning: ₹24 per metre. Where you need a longitudinal section drawn, ₹32 per metre.
- Minimum order: ₹50,000 for Delhi NCR sites, ₹1,00,000 for sites in the rest of India.
- Long corridors: 25% off the whole order above 100 km, 40% above 500 km and 50% above 1,000 km.
- Crossing control points by DGPS, where you want them fixed separately: ₹3,000 per point.
- GST is extra on all of the above. The figures on your written quote are the final ones.
Within Delhi NCR, a crew reaches site the same day or within 1 working day. Elsewhere, the team member based in that region starts with the escort straight away, never later than the next working day. Any mobilisation or travel cost, if applicable, is shown in the quote. Drawings follow within three working days of the last field day, although escort availability often sets the real pace.
Working alongside the pipeline operator
The operator owns the line and decides what may be done on it; our job is to give both sides one agreed picture. Any excavation in the right of use needs the operator's written permission and, in most cases, their representative on site. We never touch test posts, valve chambers or soil without that consent, and good utility coordination includes logging the dig on the Call Before u Dig platform. Pipeline operators hire Mezux Touch on their own orders, and so do the project teams whose works cross their lines.
When you are ready, share the site location and the drawing of your proposed works, and we will reply with a scope and a written price.
Frequently asked questions
Can GPR find a petroleum pipeline at any depth?
No, range depends on the soil: in dry sand a large steel pipe can show at a few metres, while wet clay or saline soil cuts that sharply. Deep drilled crossings are recorded from the operator's HDD profile.
Do we need the pipeline company's permission for the survey itself?
A surface scan along a public road does not normally need it. Work inside the right of use, test post connections and trial pits all need the operator's consent and, normally, their representative.
How close can our HDD bore pass to an existing pipeline?
The operator sets the clearance for its own line. Our survey gives the measured depth and position so your designer can show that clearance on the bore profile for approval.
Will you also locate the fibre cable laid beside the pipe?
Yes, it is a main reason for the radar pass, because the fibre duct is shallower than the pipe and locator-only utility locating often misses it.
Is a Call Before u Dig registration enough?
It is a useful alert to registered owners, but it does not replace a site survey. The Mezux guide: Call before You Dig in India explains what the platform does and does not cover.
Can you record the pipe condition in the trial pit?
We photograph and describe what is visible, such as coating type and any obvious damage. A formal coating or integrity assessment is the operator's specialist task.
Get a written quote for your pipeline crossing
Services used on pipeline corridors
Written by Saniya Parveen · Technically reviewed by Rahul Rai · Updated 8 November 2026