According to the Common Ground Alliance, an underground utility line is damaged once every 6 minutes nationwide, because someone dug into the ground without understanding the location of underground lines. While these mistakes are often caused by large excavation projects, a simple mailbox installation or even a small gardening project can sometimes lead to a breach of underground utility lines.
Call-811-Before-You-Dig
“Call before you dig” advertisements are seemingly omnipresent these days. This is for good reason: it’s crucial to request a utility line inspector who can help you avoid costly and potentially dangerous damage to buried utility lines. In addition to causing service outages or damage to utilities, failing to properly prepare can put you at great risk of injury, electrocution, or worse: a natural gas line rupture that can result in dangerous explosions.
In many jurisdictions, it’s also a legal requirement to notify the public utility before any digging or excavation. Most locator services require a service request at least two days before beginning a digging project.
Fortunately, contacting your public utility is easy. In 2007, a universal N11 phone number was established for contacting the appropriate utility from 71 regional services that coordinate underground public utility locations. But instead of searching for the contact information for each individual utility, you can now simply dial 811. For more information, visit call811.com.