Statistics indicate that utility locating is one of the primary reasons people attend Damage Prevention Conference & Exposition (DPC). The 2003 DPC, taking place in Tampa, Fla., December 3-5, will feature an entire track of utility locating and marking sessions designed to educate and inform attendees on not only the latest locating techniques, but day-to-day issues including how to train utility locators and tricks to getting accurate data.

A sampling of educational sessions on utility locating and marking include:

• Identification Marking - A New Generation in Locating Tools, Corey Wilson, Engineer 3M
• Physics of Locating for Non-Physicists, Russell Bigelow, VP Engineering Metrotech Corp
• Combating Locator Turnover in Today's Competitive Market, Christopher Koch, Training Services Director Hance Utility Services/NULCA
• What Do You Do When You Can't Hook Up?, Don Plosser, President, Pipehorn Utility Tool Company, Inc
• Electronically Locating Sub-Aqueous Facilities, Dick Spiroff, Director of Business and Management Development, American Utility Services
• NULCA and Its Industry Partners, Jamal Maumi, President, STS LLC & NULCA
• Seeing the Underground in 3 - Dimensional, Scott Carney, Division Director, General Engineering Geophysics, LLC

The exhibit floor will be a one-stop shop to meet with national manufacturers of locating instruments. The following vendors will be displaying products in this field: Geophysical Survey Systems Inc. (GSSI), Aqua-Tronics Inc., Ditch Witch, 3M, Fisher Research Laboratory, Geometrics, Heath Consultants Inc., Mala Geo Science, Metrotech Corporation, CommScope Inc., Radio Detection, Rycom Instruments, Schonstedt Instruments, Sensors & Software, Seek Tech, and Subsurface Instruments.

A vast number of contract locating and SUE firms, representing regions from all over the country, will be available to discuss their services. Exhibiting companies in this field include: Central Locating Services, Craig A Smith & Associates, Infrasource Underground Services, Cumbey & Fair Inc., TBE Group, MACTEC Engineering and Consulting Inc., Eastern Locating Service, General Engineering, Geophysics LLC, Heath Consultants Inc., iMark, KCI Technologies, One Call Locators, SiteWise LLC, STS LLC, Taylor Wiseman Taylor, United Locating Services, and UtiliQuest LLC.

Over the last five years, the Damage Prevention Conference & Exposition has become the leading interactive forum to learn about and discuss the current and emerging issues that impact the design, installation, maintenance, rehabilitation, and protection of buried cables and pipelines. Facility owners, municipalities, contractors, utility professionals and excavators turn out each year seeking the latest education and applications to ensure success. For information on attending or exhibiting, please call 800-827-8009 or visit www.damageprevention.com.

Source: Cygnus Expositions, Nov. 17, 2003