Happy 18th Birthday Seeka!
Kemp Engineering and Surveying’s dedicated utility branch, Seeka Utility Surveys, is turning 18! We believe this makes Seeka the longest-running dedicated utility survey firm in the Southwest. Seeka have been leading the way over those 18 years, providing clients throughout Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and beyond with surveys of unmatched detail and accuracy. Seeka provide full PAS128 utility surveys, site mark-ups, CCTV drain surveys, as-built surveys and more, and have achieved remarkable success throughout their lifetime completing surveys for clients all over the SW region including the likes of; Cormac, Bam, Costain, Plymouth City Council, South West Water, Aecom, MJL to name but a few.
Today we are celebrating that success, so read on to find out why Seeka are the most trusted, experienced and professional utility surveyors in the Southwest.
Experience:
18 years ago back in 2006, when utility surveying was a fledgling service and many clients were sceptical of its benefits, Seeka started out as a surveyor and technician, scanning small areas and fields, taking on one job at a time. 18 years on, Seeka has developed into a team of professionally and academically qualified surveyors who are at the forefront of the industry, employing the most up to date techniques and technologies and taking on massive projects years in the making, such as the HADDMS (DDMS) CCTV survey of the 14 km A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross project, and an extensive PAS128 utility survey of the A38 Manadon Interchange in Plymouth where they employed mass-array ground penetrating radar and mobile mapping solutions to survey large stretches of busy carriageway with little disruption to the public.
An original Seeka team member in 2006 with an early model Ground Penetrating Radar
With 18 years in the business comes a lot of experience, and nowhere is that more evident than with Utility Manager Andy Morton, who has been with Seeka for over 15 years and is one of the most knowledgeable utility surveyors in the Southwest. Andy’s expertise cannot be overstated, and he has either run or had input to almost every large project that Seeka have undertaken. Andy has spent his entire working life in the construction industry giving him an understanding of how and why things are built the way they are, something that he uses to great affect when it comes to problem solving complex service networks. Andy loves how technical utility surveying can be and the investigative nature of the job, and he prides himself on his ability to understand complex sites such as sewage and water treatment works, hospitals, sub-stations and schools.
Survey Manager Josh Lockyear and Senior Utility Surveyor Aaron Myers both have over 20 years of utility survey experience between them. Both Josh and Aaron are qualified with Level 5 Diplomas in Utility Mapping and Surveying proving their ability to undertake PAS128 Level B surveys.
Josh and Aaron carrying out real time 3D utility mapping with the state-of-the-art Stream C detection radar
Seeka employs an entire team of highly qualified and experienced surveyors with qualifications in confined space entry, chapter 8 traffic management, OS19X drainage condition reporting, accredited diplomas and membership to the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES) which all helps to provide clients with assurance that they are receiving surveys of the highest quality. In recent years many firms have attempted to emulate the Seeka utility detection, surveying and mapping service offered by Kemp. However, Seeka are proud to stand out as the benchmark for others to compare themselves with. The Seeka team are continually striving to develop new skills and techniques that push the limits of what can be achieved in utility surveying.
When asked what has made Seeka successful for the past 18 years, Seeka’s managing director, Scott Kemp, said, “We’re always investing in staff development and new technologies. We listen to what our clients need from a survey and are always looking to provide excellent service and bespoke optimum solutions for them.”
Seeka and the Southwest:
Over the past 18 years, Seeka has been a part of many large projects that have made an impact on the people living in the Southwest. These projects include PAS128 utility and CCTV surveys of most of the region’s main hospitals including Royal Cornwall, Royal Devon and Exeter, Derriford and Torbay as well as smaller hospitals at Bodmin, Falmouth, Hayle and Penzance. The surveys at Royal Cornwall Hospital Treliske have helped with the building of multiple new wards over the past few years, allowing the NHS to care for more residents of Cornwall than ever and bringing a positive impact to Cornwall as a whole. Whilst surveys at other sites have allowed for detailed design, master planning and facilities management.
During the Covid 19 pandemic the Seeka and Kemp team were employed to assist with the creation on the Nightingale hospital in Exeter
2021. Seeka begin subsurface surveying of the new Nightingale site in Exeter
Seeka have also provided surveys for schools and colleges all over the Southwest, multiple new housing projects (including as-built and S104 surveys) allowing more residents of Devon and Cornwall to gain affordable housing as well as providing surveys of military bases, requiring Seeka’s surveyors to undergo rigorous enhanced security checks and medical examinations to make sure that they are the right people for the job.
Many of the projects undertaken by Seeka are in dense urban environments with heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic flows. The management team mitigate disruption by employing out of hours working and traffic management whenever necessary to ensure that survey results are not compromised whilst the field teams are trained in chapter 8 traffic management.
Seeka also works with the Eden Project in Cornwall, doing regular surveys to help them to continue to grow their world-famous attraction. This is one of Josh Lockyear’s favourite projects to be involved with and he said, “My partner and I regularly take our children to visit the Eden Project and getting to be a part of its continued development makes me incredibly proud.”
Seeka’s CCTV specialist team are currently providing a full CCTV survey of the major new A30 road being built in Cornwall. This survey covers more than 85km of drainage spread over 13 separate networks and is being led by one of Seeka’s senior utility surveyor’s, Lauren K. It’s also all being processed in-house by their dedicated CAD draughtsman and CCTV processor, Lauren C who is also OS19X trained and who employs CCTV and GIS software along with CAD to produce detailed surveys to HADDMS specification.
New technologies:
3D modelling of utilities is a fascinating part of underground utility mapping and, with the rise of BIM and the ever-growing popularity of Revit, it was important that Seeka could provide this service to their clients. Through collecting meticulous detail onsite and combining this with an innate understanding of utility networks Seeka are able to produce 3D models of service networks that provide an additional level of detail and readability when compared to traditional 2D CAD drawings.
Another service offered by Seeka is the post-processing of ground penetrating radar (GPR) data utilising their cutting edge multi-array system - the Stream DP. Offering both post-processing and real-time GPR analysis allows Seeka to not only tailor its surveys to each client’s individual needs, but also affords them the highest possible chance of locating all services within an area. This gives clients the peace of mind that they have commissioned the most comprehensive survey available.
Seeka have also been continuing to push further into the world of CCTV surveys, which is becoming increasingly popular with clients as it allows them to reduce the cost of the project by combining their utility and CCTV survey needs into a single package.
The team at Seeka are always looking for new ways to innovate and improve the way they work, and this has included utilising technologies such as GIS systems, drone flights and inverted laser scanning. These technologies, along with an ever-growing software library, are being used across all of Kemp Engineering and Surveying’s teams and are continually improving the way the company can collaborate with clients to meet a project’s needs.
Seeka team member Andrew, setting up a scanner which will be lowered into the buried water chamber and produce a 3D image of the interior.
The Future of Seeka:
The last few years have been transformative for the team, with new equipment and techniques being implemented as the field team grows and people’s understanding of utility surveys increases. Clients are wanting more out of their surveys, and Seeka are working tirelessly to accommodate for that and make sure that they stay at the top of their game and at the forefront of the industry. With the ever-developing nature of utility surveys we at Kemp Engineering and Surveying look forward to what the future brings for the Seeka team.
Check back with Kemp Engineering and Surveying over the next few months where we will continue to celebrate 18 years of Seeka with more articles detailing some of their biggest and most interesting jobs, the challenges that they faced while doing them, and the techniques they employed to overcome those challenges.
For more information on Seeka, click the Seeka Utility Surveys tab on our website, or check out our client guides at Client Guides — Kemp Engineering & Surveys.