How Ground Penetrating Radar Supports Oil and Gas Operations
Oil and gas facilities are built to last. Many have been operating for decades, evolving over time with upgrades, retrofits, repairs, and expansions layered on top of one another. What often gets lost along the way is a complete picture of what exists beneath floors, pads, and structures.
That missing information can turn even a small repair into a high-risk task.
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) helps close that gap in a safe way. By allowing teams to understand what lies inside concrete and below it, GPR supports safer planning, smarter repairs, and fewer surprises on active sites.
Challenges Beneath Oil and Gas Facilities
Refineries and processing plants are dense with embedded infrastructure. Reinforcing steel, conduits, piping, post-tension systems, previous repairs, much of which is hidden within concrete slabs poured decades ago. Drawings may be outdated or incomplete. In some cases, they never even existed.
Cutting or removing concrete without knowing what’s below can lead to damaging services, unplanned shutdowns, safety concerns, and schedule delays. For oil and gas operators, those risks carry real financial consequences.
This is where GPR becomes an essential planning tool.
Take the work we did on a Refinery Concrete Repair that helped Imperial Oil safely plan concrete repairs by confirming what existed inside and beneath the slab before any cutting began. By combining GPR with traditional locating methods, we reduced unknowns on an active refinery site, keeping critical work moving forward.
Why GPR Fits Oil and Gas Projects So Well
GPR is non-destructive and can be carried out with minimal disruption to ongoing operations. Surveys can be completed efficiently, coordinated around site activities, and tailored to specific repair or upgrade zones.
For oil and gas companies, GPR helps with:
- Planning concrete repairs or replacements
- Locating embedded services before cutting or coring
- Verifying slab thickness and construction layers
- Identifying voids or areas of concern beneath slabs
- Reducing risk during maintenance and retrofit work
It supports better decision-making early, when changes are easiest to manage.
Experience Matters as Much as the Technology
Collecting data is only part of the job. Interpreting it correctly and within the context of industrial construction and oil and gas operations is what turns information into value.
At Challenger Geomatics, our GPR work is carried out by teams who understand refinery environments, safety protocols, and the realities of working on live sites. We focus on delivering clear, usable results that our clients can rely on when planning their next steps.
Oil and gas facilities demand careful planning. GPR alone and combined with other traditional surveying methods can help reduce uncertainty when working with aging infrastructure and complex concrete systems. It allows our clients to move forward with greater clarity while protecting critical assets already in place.
If you’re planning repairs, upgrades, or maintenance work at an oil and gas facility, bringing GPR into the process early can make all the difference.
To learn more about how Ground Penetrating Radar works or how our team can help you see what’s beneath the surface, contact us today.
