16 July 2007
PRESS RELEASE
The Cable Detection EZiSYSTEM excels in a high risk environment for JRB Operations Manager Chris Evans.
“It was one of the worst grounds I have ever come across” JRB operations manager, Chris Evans dropped in to talk to us about how the EZiCAT performed for him on one of the worst underground location sites he has seen in his 16years of dealing with buried service avoidance. JRB Ltd is a company with two branches, one dealing specifically with Underground Utility Detection and the other dealing with the installation of gas, water & electric mains & services. Chris Evans is the ideal candidate to speak to about Cable Avoidance Tools as he has used everything from basic avoidance models such as the EZiCAT 100 straight up to Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and is licensed by OFCOM to operate GPR.
The site Chris is referring to is Grangemouth in Scotland, a site which has passed through the hands of various companies over the years. Each company had left their own mark on the site by way of buried cables, pipes, services and fuel lines. Various factors contributed to the difficulty of mapping the site including the fact that all maps and drawings of the site were out of date and inaccurate, there were services still in use but also services which were capped and had not been used in years, to top it all off the surface earth had iron ore in its make up and this was playing havoc with the GPR. The JRB Detection Team were using their own experience, logic and every make and model of locator to try to locate each and every cable in the ground. After traditional, manually adjusted CATs seemed to be letting them down, they decided to try an EZiCAT which coincidently they were trialling at the time.
As a long standing Cable Detection Service customer, JRB had heard about the EZiCAT and had asked for a kit to send around to each of their locations to see if the EZiCATs were a good solution for their on-site digging teams. The feedback to date has been very good! Chris commented, “The EZiCAT is faster than CATs with manual adjustments, all the lads from the digging teams on site are saying it is faster, easier to use and they love the battery low indicator. Its user friendly and you cant get much better than that. The Power mode detection is fantastic and we found it very responsive compared to other CATs we were using.” JRB have found that manually adjusted CATs have caused problems in the past. “One chap uses it at one setting and the next guy that comes along does not change it and gets no reading when he scans. This is very risky and the EZiCAT removes the margin for error in this area. The same applies for the automatic pinpointing, it is more accurate and removes the human error element from the equation.”
Taking the EZiCAT onto the Grangemouth site, they found that in power mode it was superior to what they were using. A previous team had scanned an area using a manual CAT and found nothing, the EZiCAT however was able to identify cables and services in the same area!! Eventually, using a methodical approach, drawing on their experience and using a variety of avoidance and location tools JRB were successful in locating each and every pipe on the site. In this high-risk environment the EZiCAT worked well for Chris and his team.
Out on site with the JRB digging teams Chris is getting fantastic feedback, after digging trial holes, it is more accurate on the power setting that any other CATs they are using. “The teams are saying that it is so simple, just hit the on trigger and its in power mode, in this way you eliminate a lot of the risk factor. The manually adjusted CATs can be too complicated for general on-site use, they have too many buttons and leave too much room for error. They are also slower at pinpointing cables, the manual controls make it all a bit awkward.“
After trialling the product over a short period Chris’s initial feelings are good. “I think it is safer for the guys on site to use, its easier, faster and more straight forward than other similar tools on the market. The lads on site find it great to have a choice of 8 and 33 kHz, it gives them more flexibility on the job.” On asking for his thoughts on the in-built extended self test feature which comes as standard, Chris remarks “The self test feature will be great for our Plant Manager when he goes around checking up on equipment every week. He can check each EZiCAT to make sure all is in order.”
After an initial wariness the market is starting to come around to the idea that the EZiCAT is not just an alternative to the existing products on the market but is a fantastic, innovative product in its own right. The Cable Detection EziSYSTEM uses the latest technology to advance cable avoidance and location to the next level. Its speed and simplicity of use make it the perfect tool for site workers who just want to get the job done quickly and accurately. For more information on the Cable Detection EziSYSTEM, log onto www.cabledetection.co.uk, contact Yvonne Conway on +44 (0) 1782 654454 or send an email to sales@cabledetection.co.uk