Since USA was called and the location of this gas main was not marked, Caltrans was not liable for any costs related to its repair. Always call the regional notification center for your area before any digging or excavation work. The phone numbers for several of these notification centers are in the Maintenance Manual, Volume 1, Chapter 8, Protection of Workers, Section 8.40, Working Near Utilities. As this accident illustrates, this is still no guarantee that underground utilities are not present. Develop and periodically review procedures to be followed if an underground utility is damaged.
Electronic locators are also available for detecting underground utilities.
As a result of this accident, electronic locators were purchased for District 1 sign crews.