2 minute read
Tracer wire system ensures safe utility location
As part of its Dig Safe range, Tapex Industrial offers the Copperhead tracer wire solution to help operators and contractors locate underground pipes and cables through cost-effective means.
Why install tracer wire? Tracer wire is the most accurate way to detect buried pipes and cables. Tracer wire: • Prevents underground utility damage and saves lives. • Locates non-metallic and metallic materials. • Designed for open cut, directional drilling, and pipe bursting. Tracer wire is an inexpensive insurance policy to ensure accurate location for the life of a utility.
Copperhead has developed the Complete Utility Locating System – a complete tracer wire system designed to ensure the protection of underground utility assets. The company has established a complete specification based on best practices for installing complete tracer wire systems. Dig Safe can assist utilities, municipalities, and engineers in writing specifications to meet their specific needs, and its dedicated customer service team can assist in every step of the selection, specification and installation process.
Choosing the right tracer wire: copper-clad steel advantages over solid copper
• Durable • Longer lasting • Stronger (up to 6 times the break load) • Reduced material cost • Reduced threat of theft due to lack of aftermarket value • Lower shipping and handling costs due to lighter weight Copperhead copper-clad steel (CCS) tracer wire is a bimetallic wire with a steel core, with a copper covering. The two metals are metallurgically bonded together with heat and pressure, making them inseparable after the cladding process is complete.
CCS offers the strength of steel with the conductivity of copper, providing utilities an intelligent alternative to solid copper tracer wire. All Copperhead tracer wire is insulated with a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) jacket that is designed for direct bury.
Tracer wire is an inexpensive insurance policy to ensure accurate location for the life of a utility.
Tracer wire alone, or tracer wire that is improperly installed, is ineffective. Copperhead’s Complete Utility Locating System allows you to pinpoint the exact location of underground utilities. It is a complete system of compatible components, including tracer wire, water-proof connections rated for direct bury, magnesium ground rods, and protective access points, is critical to ensuring signal continuity and detectability across the entire system. Step 1: Conduct with Copperhead CCS Tracer Wire. Step 2: Connect with SnakeBite corrosionproof connectors. Step 3: Ground all tracer wire dead-ends. A Ground Rod pulls the electrical current emitted by the locate transmitter down the tracer wire for detection. Step 4: SnakePit Access Points – tracer wire and ground rod termination and direct connection point for utility locate transmitters. Step 5: Locate Dig Safe offers a range of locators to suit various requirements.
Copperhead’s Complete Utility Locating System is part of Tapex Industrial’s Dig Safe range.
Copperhead CCS tracer wire is a bimetallic wire with a steel core, with a copper covering.
Contact Michelle Moreira on +61 411 104 981 Email sales@tapexindustrial.com.au Visit www.tapexindustrial.com.au/digsafe-range/copperhead/
