Services - ECHO UES, Inc.

Utility Coordination

Unforeseen conflicts and impacts with utilities during construction have the potential to affect the cost, schedule, and safety of any construction project. The Utility Coordinator must consider the potential for encountering utilities within the right-of-way or project limits, including associated off-site improvements. ECHO’s Utility Coordination services provide valuable support during design and construction, ensuring utilities are identified and dealt with at the most appropriate time during the project delivery.

ECHO’s dedicated Utility Coordination team is focused on determining a solution to all utility issues for each and every stakeholder involved with the project. Our Utility Coordination services during the design phase of a project include utility conflict determination, utility conflict matrix development support, scheduling and chairing utility meetings, utility agreement preparation, utility work schedule development support, utility relocation management, and utility reimbursement preparation.

ECHO is also fully familiar with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the study process required, and the appropriate utility documentation (i.e., PD&E Request Report and Utility Assessment Package) necessary to assist our clients in obtaining Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project funding approval whenever applicable.

Subsurface Utility Engineering

UTILITY ENGINEERING: As a task discipline of civil engineering, Utility Engineering (UE) includes all aspects of any given civil engineering design or construction project pertaining specifically to utilities:

Utility Investigation

Conflict Analysis

Conflict Resolution Engineering Including Utility Design

Utility Adjustments

Protect-in-Place or Relocation Design

Asset Management Including Accommodation Policies, Statutory Mandates, and Agreements

Installation and Inspection

Bid and Contract Management

Construction Staging

Utility Related Value Engineering

Construction Management

Condition Assessment Utility Coordination Between Multiple Parties

Pipeline, Cable and Conduit Project Planning, Design, and Construction

ECHO does not provide utility design, but rather focuses on a specific aspect of Utility Engineering – Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE). This service includes investigating the location of existing utilities within the project limits and providing the Project Owner, Engineer, and Contractor with reliable utility information to enhance the success of any project.

SUBSURFACE UTILITY ENGINEERING: Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) relates to the collection and depiction of existing subsurface utility data. With the use and adoption of surface geophysics, field investigation, verification and survey, existing subsurface utilities can be found, studied, depicted and analyzed for any civil engineering project.

Obtaining advanced and accurate information on the existing subsurface utilities located within certain project limits is beneficial to better design, make informed decisions on how to deal with existing utilities, mitigate risk and avoid delays during construction.

Depending on the specific project, the utility information can be conveyed in a variety of electronic and hard copy formats.

The American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) Utility Engineering & Surveying Institute (UESI) and Construction Institute (CI) released the 38-22 “Standard Guideline for Investigating and Documenting Existing Utilities” which provides prescriptive and performance guidelines to achieve Utility Quality Levels information and describe the significant professional judgment exercised by the professional to determine appropriate timing, sequencing, location, and scope of a utility investigative effort to achieve the goal of reduced utility issues during project delivery. ECHO has the staff, experience, and capabilities to perform any utility investigative work, in accordance with the ASCE Standard, or as requested by the specific project.

Survey and Mapping

ECHO provides a variety of professional survey and mapping services, including, but not limited to, design, topographic, drainage, utility, boundary, R/W (mapping, alignment retracement, maintenance maps), ALTA, bathymetric, and various specific purpose surveys to support any type of project.

Reliable field data provided via survey services is the foundation of every successful project and is usually a critical path item in the project delivery. ECHO’s team of professionals is fully equipped with cutting-edge technology and can complete any specific survey task including, but not limited to:

Horizontal and Vertical Primary and Secondary Control Surveys

Historic Alignment Retracements

GLO Section Line Retracements

3D Topographic Surveys including Digital Terrain Model (DTM)

2D Planimetric Surveys

Drainage Surveys

Bridge Surveys

Underground/Subsurface Utility Surveys

ECHO owns and operates a large array of the latest available technologies, including static and mobile LiDAR, aerial drones, GPS receivers, total stations, digital levels, and imaging laser scanners.

With thousands of projects performed throughout Florida, the drive in understanding the Client’s needs, and the focus on providing timely survey information, ECHO is the choice for many project Owners, Engineers, and Contractors on a variety of projects.

Bio

Dr. Chittaluru has over 28 years of program and project management experience in enterprise systems design, implementation and maintenance. He has extensive knowledge in working with government agencies, DOTs, utilities, public works and businesses and has served in various project roles including project engineer, lead technical professional, project manager, project principal and client manager.

Dr. Chittaluru has an excellent understanding of business needs of cities, planning agencies, utilities, transportation agencies and public works departments. He has served as project manager and technical professional on many enterprise IT/GIS systems planning, design and implementation, as well as utilities and transportation master planning projects.

As Sr. VP of Technology, Dr. Chittaluru brings ECHO UES to the forefront of our industry in relation to systems and processes integration, technological development and enhancement of collection, use and administration of field data.

Bio

Mr. Pilia has over 22 years of experience in starting, growing and leading engineering operations internationally, with experience in Europe and the United States. His experience incorporates providing utility engineering and subsurface utility engineering services, operations, training, leadership and management for engineering and surveying businesses.

Mr. Pilia’s technical experience and background in advanced 3D utility mapping and modeling positions him with a thorough understanding of the evolving design industry.

As Sr. VP of Utility Engineering, Mr. Pilia is involved in hiring, training and mentoring utility engineering staff, in addition to implementing processes and procedures and overseeing the overall process to produce accurate utility engineering work.

Mr. Pilia serves on the technical committee of the ASCE 38-22 “Standard Guideline for Investigating and Documenting Existing Utilities”, and is a member of the ASCE Utility Engineering & Surveying Institute, Utility Risk Management Division ExCom.

Bio

Mr. Stanley has 26 years of civil engineering, construction and survey operational and technical support experience working with a wide range of clients in both the public and private sectors.

Mr. Stanley’s experience includes project management, finance, subsurface utility engineering, surveying and mapping, utility/roadway design and construction, water/wastewater treatment and nuclear energy plants, permitting and construction claims.

Prior to joining ECHO UES Mr. Stanley provided operation support at a large engineering firm across their entire national footprint. Mr. Stanley’s experience was built from the ground up, with understanding of how operational efficiencies ultimately translate into successful and efficient business practices.

A former US NAVY Operations Specialist and Petty Officer, Mr. Stanley in his role as Sr. VP of Operations is responsible for assuring client satisfaction through efficient performance. Mr. Stanley provides guidance and operational business support for ECHO UES, including project management, contract review and risk mitigation, profit and loss responsibilities, as well as numerous other business related tasks.

Bio

Mr. Patterson has over 25 years of experience within the survey, mapping and subsurface utility engineering field. He began his career working as an office technician and worked his way through the ranks to become a Branch Manager for a large subsurface utility engineering and survey firm.

Mr. Patterson’s experience encompasses every activity necessary to produce quality survey and mapping deliverables, from field data collection to the use and management of data in the office. His analytical skills combined with great attention to detail, Florida-specific DOT survey know-how and overall business acumen enable him to set a strong technical foundation for the survey and mapping business line at ECHO UES.

As Sr. VP of Survey and Mapping, Mr. Patterson is involved with hiring, training and mentoring survey staff, in addition to implementing processes and procedures for sound field and office work.

Bio

Mr. Comellas has 40 years of civil engineering experience, of which almost 20 years was with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and 20 years as a professional consultant. As a consultant, Mr. Comellas focuses on client relationship management, FDOT liaison, business development, resource management, financial management, quality assurance and quality control.

Prior to founding ECHO UES, Inc. Mr. Comellas worked for a large engineering firm where he led subsurface utility engineering, surveying & mapping, and utility coordination services through a vast geographic area encompassing multiple states and offices.

Mr. Comellas is highly experienced in managing multi-service projects, ensuring engineering design and construction clients’ needs and deadlines are met. He plays an instrumental role in growing the business footprint for subsurface utility engineering, surveying and mapping, and utility coordination services in the transportation design-build and private-public partnership arena.

As President of ECHO UES, Inc., Mr. Comellas provides daily leadership, oversight and direction for the firm. His previous experience in both the public and private sector assists him in leading ECHO UES with wisdom and experience.

Our Services

What We Do

Survey and Mapping

Subsurface Utility Engineering

Utility Coordination

Committed to Providing Quality and Reliable Infrastructure Data

Utility Coordination

Subsurface Utility Engineering

Survey and Mapping

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