Underground Services, Inc.

About Us

Underground Services, Inc. (also known informally as SoftDig® after our non-destructive vacuum excavation process for locating utilities) is a well-known, full-service, professional utility locating and Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) company. SoftDig provides a complete range of locating services throughout much of the United States and is dedicated to utility locating, Subsurface Utility Engineering, supporting survey, CAD, and innovative utility mapping services. The SoftDig® system, designed in 1959, by one of the founders of SoftDig, revolutionized underground utility locating over the past half-century and has been used safely and successfully for many years in North America, Europe, and Australia.

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A person sitting at a desk, working on a laptop with a coffee mug nearby. Papers, a notebook, and a lamp are also on the desk. The background shows bookshelves and a window with curtains.A white SoftDig utility truck is parked on a residential street, with an orange safety cone in front of it. Trees and a modern house are visible in the background.
Our Services

Underground Services, Inc., SoftDig, is one of the oldest, full-service professional Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) companies in the United States. We provide a complete range of SUE services throughout the United States, including the innovative SoftDig non-destructive air/vacuum excavation system for locating underground utilities, GPR, as well as other geo-physical locating instruments. In addition to utility mark outs and vacuum excavation, SoftDig provides survey and utility mapping (GPS/GIS/MicroStation/AutoCAD), video pipe inspections, concrete scanning inspections and drilling services.

SoftDig serves all industries. Our clientele consists of a variety of industries such as engineering, construction, environmental, industrial, educational, military and government, thus providing us extensive experience on any project type. With expertise in all fields related to SUE, SoftDig is dedicated to providing our clients with the highest caliber services throughout the course of their projects.

View Our Work
A person sitting at a desk, working on a laptop with a coffee mug nearby. Papers, a notebook, and a lamp are also on the desk. The background shows bookshelves and a window with curtains.A SoftDig vacuum excavation truck is parked on the street near an overpass. A worker in a safety vest operates a hose from the truck, with orange cones placed around the work area.

Our Locations

SoftDig corporate headquarters is located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where our company began in 1987. We also maintain operations centers in Annapolis Junction, Maryland (Baltimore/Washington area), Syracuse, New York, and San Antonio, Texas.

Service Area

Underground Services, Inc., also known as SoftDig, provides service all along the eastern seaboard of the United States, from the Carolinas in the south to Maine in the north and as far west as Michigan. We also provide services in the state of Texas. We work closely with 811 in all the states, but we do not work directly for the utility companies.
A person sitting at a desk, working on a laptop with a coffee mug nearby. Papers, a notebook, and a lamp are also on the desk. The background shows bookshelves and a window with curtains.Two construction workers wearing safety gear operate a vacuum excavation truck labeled SoftDig at an urban worksite, surrounded by fencing, debris, and city buildings under a blue sky.

Our Equipment

SoftDig is well equipped to meet the needs of its clients with a fleet of vacuum excavation trucks and support vehicles; electronic locating equipment such as ground penetrating radar (GPR), concrete scanners, and pipe video inspection; modern GPS-based survey equipment, and desktop mapping software such as Microstation®, AutoCAD®, and ArcGIS®.
A person sitting at a desk, working on a laptop with a coffee mug nearby. Papers, a notebook, and a lamp are also on the desk. The background shows bookshelves and a window with curtains.Two workers in high-visibility safety gear use large hoses to perform maintenance or cleaning work at a curbside, with one kneeling on the grass near an open utility hole.

Our Quality Standards

Years of experience with federal, state, municipal, industrial, and utility companies, both locally and nationally, have developed excellent working relationships for SoftDig. SoftDig also has long-standing relationships with numerous respected and well-known engineering and environmental remediation firms throughout the United States. Many of our new and old relationships have been fostered through our regular participation in professional engineering societies such as ASCE, NSPE, SAME, and ASHE as well as trade organizations such as CGA (Common Ground Alliance) and 811 systems and ABC (Association of Builders and Contractors).

SoftDig maintains and implements an extensive Quality Assurance program that covers all phases of a project: Scope of Services, such as Recon, Designating, Locating, Survey, and Review of Data; duties and Responsibilities of a Project Team; Technician Training; Survey Primer; Quality Assurance; Standard Reporting Forms. In addition, technical field staff are trained in O.S.H.A. 40 HAZWOPER and OSHA 10, among others, and regularly attend job-site safety and job-site specific safety training (i.e., those conducted by railroad companies). SoftDig also conducts in-house safety and procedure workshops necessary for keeping up with industry standards, as well as random drug testing of employees by DOT/OPS requirements.

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Our Team

SoftDig currently has a staff that includes licensed professional engineers, surveyors, specially trained utility locating technicians, and experienced support personnel. All of our employees are dedicated to prompt and courteous customer service. Our field technicians are certified in various programs such as OSHA (40 & 10), flagger traffic control, first aid, defensive driving and railroad safety (Amtrak/CSX/FRA). In addition, many of our staff have clearances for sensitive industrial facilities, military installations, and other government facilities. View our safety page.

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Tim Hoffer
Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer
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Robert Medina
Southern General Manager
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Taylor Augustyn
Southern Operations Manager
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Dave Vanderslice
Client Services Manager
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Tyler McCoog
Client Services Manager
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Nick Sapone
Client Services Manager
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Rachel Selke
Director of Geophysical Mapping & Quality Assurance
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Gus Natelli
GIS Specialist, Client Services Manager
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Sonny Richarts
Fleet & Asset Manager

Our Affiliations

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