SkillBridge SUE Technician

US Utility Potholing welcomes transitioning service members for Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) technician training through the DoD Skill Bridge program. Gain real ASCE 38-22 field experience on active South Florida infrastructure projects during your final days of military service.

SUE mapping integrates field utility data into engineering-grade CAD deliverables — Skill Bridge SUE technicians train on the full data collection workflow

A Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) technician is a field professional who collects the underground utility data used by civil engineers to design transportation, water/wastewater, and infrastructure projects. The SUE technician is the field foundation of the SUE process — the person who goes to the construction site, locates utilities, performs GPR scanning, digs the pothole, takes the measurements, and records the data that the engineer integrates into the project design.

SUE practice in the United States is governed by ASCE 38-22, the Standard Guideline for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data. ASCE 38-22 defines four quality levels — QL-D through QL-A — representing progressively more reliable utility information. A trained SUE technician collects QL-B data (utility locating and GPR) and QL-A data (physical potholing and measurement) in the field, and documents findings in the format required for inclusion in engineering deliverables and project record drawings.

The SUE technician role sits at the intersection of field construction work and civil engineering — technical enough to require training and precision, physically active enough to be satisfying fieldwork, and closely connected to the infrastructure design and construction industry that drives substantial employment in South Florida and nationally.

During your Skill Bridge internship with US Utility Potholing as a SUE Technician trainee, you will work on active South Florida infrastructure projects performing the full range of SUE data collection activities. This is genuine field experience — the same work performed by our full-time SUE technicians — not a classroom or observer role. You will work directly alongside experienced technicians who will train and guide you throughout your internship.

South Florida is one of the busiest SUE markets in the country. FDOT District 4 projects throughout Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach County increasingly require ASCE 38-22 QL-B and QL-A data, as do Broward County Water and Wastewater Services, municipal public works projects, and major private development. Our Skill Bridge SUE technician participants gain exposure to a diverse range of project types and utility environments that would take years to accumulate elsewhere.

• Utility locating (QL-B): Operating EM equipment and assisting with GPR scanning to collect Quality Level B designating data on FDOT, county, and municipal infrastructure projects across South Florida.
• Vacuum excavation potholing (QL-A): Performing vacuum excavation test holes at utility conflict locations, measuring exposed utilities, and recording QL-A field data per ASCE 38-22 requirements.
• GPS field data collection: Capturing GPS-referenced utility positions and attributes for integration into engineering CAD and GIS deliverables.
• Field documentation: Preparing pothole logs, utility designating reports, and photographic records consistent with ASCE 38-22 and project-specific deliverable requirements.
• CAD deliverable preparation support: Understanding how field data translates into the utility drawings and conflict analyzes that engineers use for design — the output side of the SUE data collection workflow.
• Construction site…