Xwatch Safety Solutions, part of Hexagon, and RodRadar demonstrated the industry’s first safety-grade solution for preventing underground utility strikes during CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026. Underground utility strikes remain among the most persistent safety and financial challenges in construction. The new integrated system automatically stops excavator bucket movement when subsurface utilities are detected during active excavation.
RodRadar’s AI-driven Live Dig Radar (LDR) digging system uses ground-penetrating radar embedded directly in an excavator bucket to detect underground utilities in real time during excavation, without reliance on pre-project utility data. Through the RodRadar/Xwatch integration, LDR-detected utilities trigger an automatic bucket stop via Xwatch’s safety-grade hydraulic control system, preventing the bucket from hitting the utility.
“By integrating [RodRadar’s] Live Dig Radar technology directly into our safety-grade hydraulic control, we can physically stop the machine before a strike occurs,” said Dan Leaney, Director of Sales at Xwatch Safety Solutions. “That’s the difference between warning about a risk and actually preventing it.”
Yuval Barnea, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at RodRadar, said, “Xwatch’s proven track record in safety-grade hydraulic control makes them an ideal partner to bring our Zero-Strike vision to reality. The integration further closes the safety gap, transforming LDR detections into automatic strike prevention and delivering the industry’s first-ever SBS [stop-before-strike] solution.”
