WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CALL DIGGERS' HOTLINE

PLANTING SITE...

...PLANTING SITE

DIGGERS' HOTLINE UTILITY MARKINGS

Friday, 9:00 AM.  57 degrees F, wind calm to very light.  The sky is mostly cloudy and overcast at present.  The humidity is up, at 81%.  The barometer is down, at 29.98".  We may get a shower today.

   A few posts ago I explained the problems I ran into when I neglected to call Diggers' Hotline while planting trees at a job site, and encouraged readers to always call Diggers' Hotline before putting so much as a hand spade in ground, since some utilities may be only inches below the surface, and their route can be next to impossible to discern.

  So if you call Diggers' Hotline, here is what you can expect.  After asking whether you are a contractor with an ID number or a homeowner, you will be asked to describe the work to be done, and asked whether it involves boring, blasting or the use of equipment with a boom higher than 14' (which would interfere with overhead wires).  You will be asked the address of the job site, its compass orientation and the street it is on, and the nearest intersecting street or road. The operator will call up a map of the site on a computer and ask where on the property the work is to be done and when.  All the information will be verified and permission will be granted to start work within three calendar working days of the call.  For instance, if your call ends at 2:00 PM on Monday,  and you may dig starting at  2:00 PM on Thursday.

   By that time all utilities on the site (natural gas, water, electric, communications) will be marked with color coded flags, color coded paint, or both.  A white flag indicates no conflicts.  Blue is for water, red for electricity, yellow for gas, orange for communications.  Privately owned or installed lines, such as propane, will not be marked.  You will be instructed not to dig within 18" on either side of a marked line, and if that close, very carefully by hand.  Utility lines should have a colored tape placed over them in the trench as a warning but often do not.  Nowadays most cables are laid directly in the ground, not in conduit, so they are vulnerable to being cut with a shovel or pickax.  Natural gas pipes are usually at least three feet deep, as are water lines.  Communication lines may be only inches deep and are very vulnerable.  Any pipe or cable may be very near the surface in the vicinity of its meter.  

   At the end of the call you will be given a permit number which you should write down as evidence that you received permission to dig at the appointed time.  If you violate the permit you are liable for any damages and repairs which result; otherwise, you are free of any liability.  It pays to call Diggers' Hotline!