Call 811

[HoosierBuddy]

Just wondering. How many of you know what happens if you dial 811 and why and when you should call 811?

If you don't know...that's fine. It just means me and a lot of other people **** at getting the word out.

Phil

p.s. This is for Unitied States only!

 

[mishkaya]

Isn't that the number to call before you dig? Used to be a different # here, but I think that's what it is now...

 

[walrus]

Never heard of 811, so you guys **** at getting the word out

 

[Denominator]

http://www.call811.com:

"Homeowners often make risky assumptions about whether or not they should get their utility lines marked, but every digging job requires a call – even small projects like planting trees and shrubs. The depth of utility lines varies and there may be multiple utility lines in a common area. Digging without calling can disrupt service to an entire neighborhood, harm you and those around you and potentially result in fines and repair costs. Calling 811 before every digging job gets your underground utility lines marked for free and helps prevent undesired consequences."

 

[fatboy99]

Hey Hoosier you let the secret out !!! No seriously every one should call! Cut gas line's are a daily occourance for the service guy's at work.This spring a contractor cut a main and it caught fire lucly NO ONE was hurt. It bug's the hell out of me when i watch the home improvement show's digging and not one locate mark in sight a couple of times they have hit utilities ( water and electric) Yard Crasher's is one that comes to mind.We have bumper stickers on all of our unit's with 811 and call before you dig !!

 

[Jokeman]

I usually call Dig Safe!

 

[lawfarm]

Nope. Never heard of 811.

 

[occupant]

I have heard of it, but only recently. I started noticing 811 signs replacing the 1-800-DIG-TESS signs. And then I looked it up to find out more. I haven't had a need to dig anything anywhere but I did have to fuss at my 8-year-old for playing with my shovel. After seeing a couple YouTube gas explosion videos, he now knows what's underground and why you shouldn't randomly dig holes in the yard.

I blame that Disney movie "Holes" with Shia LeBeouf or whatever his name is. The kids watched that in school and made little paper mache dioramas of holes in dirt. Then I notice my shovel isn't where I left it.

 

[Zrexxer]

Sigh... I always call before digging even if I"m fairly sure of the utility locations... but man I wish they'd be a *little* more discreet in a residential setting... the last time I wanted to relocate the gate to my backyard fence on the side of the house where the electric and gas service comes in, they painted up the street, they painted up the curb and gutter, they painted up my yard...the neighbors were all stopping by asking if there'd been a shooting at my house and who got killed

 

[jake00]

always knew it as julie

 

[kbs2244]

When the township decided the local ditches need cleaning up they had the guy come and paint up the grass so they wouldn't hit anything.

I asked the guy who I should talk to to have him find the lines and wires to my house.

The next day when I came out to get the mail, my yard was all painted up.

I got out the digital cammera and took about 50 PICs from all angles.
I had a yardstick from permenet things like trees, culverts, corner of the house, etc. in a lot of the PICs.

So, now I know for anythig casual.
But if it is major (power tools) I plan to call again.

 

[ihredo4]

Julie is what we have here in Illinois.
JULIE = Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators

 

[Vernmotor]

Last time I call was in 2003 when I build my garage. They said they had no record of anything in my back/side yard..but if I found anything please call them LOL!!!

 

[nissan_crawler]

I think it's digsafe here. It didn't do me any good, anyway.

I purposely diverted the fence corner, and went from a 90* corner, to a 45* corner, because the gas line was marked right where the corner post would be.

Well, the street asphalt was over 5' onto my property about two foot underground (sloppy bastards), so I had to break through that with a digging bar. Sure as ****, I got to the 45* corner that I moved the post 4' over to miss their mark, broke through the asphalt with the digging bar. *DINK* *wwwooooosssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh* This is where I dropped the bar and got the hell away. I called them up (6pm friday night), and told them I needed somebody NOW. "Sir we can have somebody out monday" "listen lady, I hit the ******** gas line, understand? if somebody throws a cigarette out their car window, this whole freaking block is going up, get somebody out here NOW!!!"

The guy that showed up was really pissy at first, but when we walked over, and he saw their paint line 4' off, he just shook his head and said "well, at least you tried, too bad they didn't get it right".

I was pissed, because I had shifted 120' of fenceline to make the 45* corner work, so I could miss the damn gas line that I hit. I said to hell with it, dropped a few inches of dirt on top of the line, cut that fence post short, dropped it in the hole and poured the cement. No way in hell I was tearing out 120' of cemented in fence at that point.

 

[fireball 440]

I called it when I built my dog run. They spray painted up the whole back yard into the alley and front out to the center of the street. The dumb bastards even painted up the neighbors yard too. They weren't too happy about that. At least now I know where everything is.

 

[Torque1st]

I know where stuff is better than the digsafe people. They mark my gas line as the sewer line and vice versa and have them crossing in the middle of my yard. They don't even mark one water line.

And no I don't know anything about 811....

 

[ironroad 9c1]

best thing about living in the country, I don't have anything to worry about.

 

[fatboy99]

I think it's digsafe here. It didn't do me any good, anyway.

I purposely diverted the fence corner, and went from a 90* corner, to a 45* corner, because the gas line was marked right where the corner post would be.

Well, the street asphalt was over 5' onto my property about two foot underground (sloppy bastards), so I had to break through that with a digging bar. Sure as ****, I got to the 45* corner that I moved the post 4' over to miss their mark, broke through the asphalt with the digging bar. *DINK* *wwwooooosssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh* This is where I dropped the bar and got the hell away. I called them up (6pm friday night), and told them I needed somebody NOW. "Sir we can have somebody out monday" "listen lady, I hit the ******** gas line, understand? if somebody throws a cigarette out their car window, this whole freaking block is going up, get somebody out here NOW!!!"

The guy that showed up was really pissy at first, but when we walked over, and he saw their paint line 4' off, he just shook his head and said "well, at least you tried, too bad they didn't get it right".


DOT regulation's require the gas company to respond within 60 minute's if they dont they can be heavly fined ! If the occasion ever arises again remember to point that out.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I know where stuff is better than the digsafe people. They mark my gas line as the sewer line and vice versa and have them crossing in the middle of my yard. They don't even mark one water line.

And no I don't know anything about 811....

Yeah, that's another thing...I should have known better when they marked my cable line (that runs overhead), and the water line from the street (I'm on a well).

 

[ihredo4]

Not that we will have to worry about it or anything but what will this be like in another 50 or 100 years. There are going to be so many abandoned lines underground. Natural gas lines dont get pulled when they get shut off. Telephone lines either. Roads change and alot of stuff is put in with directional boring. The only good thing about 811, Julie, whatever it is called is that they carry the liability if something gets cut and it is not marked. I feel sorry for my kids having to deal with it but I am sure as hell going to be happy not having to deal with it.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Not that we will have to worry about it or anything but what will this be like in another 50 or 100 years. There are going to be so many abandoned lines underground.

A couple years ago, I called the water company due to chronic low water pressure. They determined that the service line from my house to the main had a leak. Of course, since our mayor sold the water company to a venture capital outfit, service lines are now the homeowner's problem (it used to be the water company's up to the water meter, whether the meter was inside the house or outside in a pit).

This is on the Thursday afternoon before the July 4th weekend, and I have no water

As part of the festivities, all of the utilities came out and marked where they thought their lines were. Seeing the gas company guy looking at a blueprint, turning it upside down, shaking his head, and spraying 2 lines on the street didn't exactly fill me with confidence.

On a related note, I have a fiber optic cable between my house and a former employer about 1/3 of a mile away. Most of this is up on utility poles, but a piece across a major road is underground. When we installed it, we registered it with the utility locating coop. We also gave the local cable TV company use of one of the spare conduits.

Whenever anything gets done to that road or the cross street nearest to it, lots of stuff gets marked except these conduits. For about 10 years I'd go out and mark it myself if I saw new markings for the other stuff. Eventually I stopped bothering, as I'm not using the fiber for anything critical and I don't have cable TV any more (switched to satellite a long time ago).

This is nothing compared to the problems I have in New York City - no matter where in any street you dig, as soon as you get past 12" deep you're going to hit something unmarked. Even if you dig out the sides of a rectangular hole by hand, if you use a digger in the middle of the box (when you didn't find any lines on the edges) you're likely to hit something. Possibly several somethings. To give you an idea how tightly things are packed underground, the outside bottom of the Holland Tunnel is only 15" from the outside top of the PATH tunnel. Yup, fifteen inches.

 

[e-tek]

best thing about living in the country, I don't have anything to worry about.

Really? Out in our country there are still gas and phone lines.

 

[tweezer]

i am a locator for a utility company. before u do any kind of digging u need to call for locates, its the law. depending on what part of the country u live in there is one number u can call to get the utilities located but u might have to call each utility to get the lines located. just remember if u hit a utility & its not locate most utilities will send u a bill. another thing most utilities only locate in the easment/right of way so if u are digging up on private property u will need pay a private locating company to get those lines located.

 

[jake00]

most utilities only locate in the easment/right of way so if u are digging up on private property u will need pay a private locating company to get those lines located.

Julie did my whole yard

 

[tweezer]

Julie did my whole yard

good for u, each state different. its best u check with the company who is locating & see where they will & will not locate.

 

[Joe69]

We just totally reconstructed a city street, incuding new storm sewers. It was amazing to see how many abandoned utilities were under that street.

Joe

 

[ihredo4]

I used to work installing Natural Gas in Northern Illinois. When we installed new lines all we did was cut and cap the old line and left it sit. We hit plenty of new and old lines while working. One of the worst was when the locator came out and marked where the fiber optic was. I had to locate where the line was by hand before we could do any other work. It took a day to find out that the locator was as worthless as they come. Everything he marked was 6 to 8 feet off the mark. He looked at the print and taped everything off the edge of the road to locate where the lines are. Unfortunately he couldn't see on the print that the road had a turn lane put in and the edge of the road had moved. I wasted over a day trying to locate these lines by hand. Another one was when we had to run a line down the shoulder of the road on a weekend. It was marked so we started digging. Of all things we hit a 50 pair telephone line that wasn't marked. According to the locator the lines went down each street near the sidewalk. Well this subdivision was put in with the lines installed as is an alley was there. Right down the middle of the back yards. We went on the location marks until we saw the pedistals in the back yard. We would have been forced out of business had that line been marked. As it was Julie got the bill. I am not surprised by anything with those idiots. They are required to locate up to the house in most cases. I know they have to mark well beyond where any work is being done.

 

[W_KY]

I'm glad someone brought up 811 cause it actually made me think of a question I have. So in my yard I have about 4 stumps that I want to grind out. I called 811 and they came out to mark the lines. It turns out that 3 of the stumps have lines running right beside them (marked less than 6 inches away). One is a gas line and the other two are cable and electric I think. How am I suppose to handle that situation? My plan is to only dig about 4 inches below ground and just cover with dirt. All lines should be deeper than 4 inches right? I will say as a kid in college I ground out stumps for 2 whole summers and I never once remember getting the utilities marked. Probably just dumb luck I never hit anything.

 

[Auzivision]

How long has 811 been in operation?

I just learned about this last week when I bought a tree. I noticed this on the reciept and didn't believe it so I tried it last Friday and it works... just like 911 and 411, but different.

I wonder if any other X11 do anything?

 

[travisd]

x11 type codes are not universal - 911 is about as universal as it gets. In some areas they're non-emergency type contact for police/fire. Some places it's general "help" services for the locality (I believe that NYC used 511 for things like Taxi complaints/info (lost belongings, etc). I've seen x11 codes that do number-readback (calling line identification). Worked in VA, but not in MD... (I think that one was 711?). 611 used to be the standard Ma Bell repair line, but with divestiture and other competing phone co's, most of them are normal or toll-free numbers now.

Basically, the telco can do any number of things like this. There's other "special" numbers out there as well. In places (like MD) that went to mandatory 10-digit dialing years ago, there's still grandfathered prefixes for things like credit card verification terminals-- I think these used to all be in the 950-xxxx exchange. the Maryland MVA used to use "950-1MVA" I believe.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

Sounds like a lot of people have had trouble getting locates done in the past. Join the club!

Seriously though.

811 is the national 1-call number and should be active in all 50 states. If you dial it, your call will be diverted to the local region's 1-call locate number. In other words, if you call from Fisher's Indiana, you'll get Indiana 811 (Used to be Holey Moley), not someone in Washington DC who then redirects your call.

Every state has different laws regarding requesting utility locates. In general, I think you'll find that you need to call in a different locate everytime you dig. In Indiana, for instance, I believe locate tickets are only good for 21 days, so if 2 months later you need to dig again (or if your work got delayed) you need to get new locates. You need to call 2-full WORK days before you dig to allow time for the locates to be done (again this may vary state-to-state)

In Indiana, it is against the law to use any mechanized digging equipment within 2-feet of a utility marking. Only hand digging or non contact (vacuum excavation equipment) is allowed. There are also fines involved (up to $10,000) for cutting a buried natural gas line (of course, Death might also be involved).

For those of you that are complaining about too many marks and too many flags, do yourself a favor. If you are going to be digging, go out and MARK WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO DIG with WHITE spray paint. White is the universal color for "proposed construction". Inform your one-call center that you only need locates in the area where the white paint is (and describe where that is in general terms). That should cut down on all the extra marking and save the locators tons of time.

They had a national roll out for the new 811 one-call number several months ago. The people on this forum are normally really informed and into this sort of thing. The fact that several people haven't heard of 811 is disappointing. Hopefully more and more people will become aware as this goes forward.

Call before you dig.

Phil

p.s. To the guy asking about the stump grinding next to the gas line. Call your gas company and ask them. They may suggest you should carefully dig out the service line to verify its location before you grind. They may come out and "pot hole" it for you to verify it's location. Utility marks are considered accurate if they are within 2-feet of the buried utility. Pipe locators (the piece of equipment, not the guys) are normally pretty accurate, but the radio-signals they use to detect lines can be affected by a number of things that can cause the markings to stray off the actual line.

 

[slacktide]

I sure wish that the gas company had called 811 before they did the trenchless install of my new gas service...

 

[Scotto]

I've called the number twice. One time the idiot just went crazy and got spray paint all over my driveway and sidewalk with arrows. Still there a year later .

 

[pcmeiners]

"This is nothing compared to the problems I have in New York City"

Even if you call...
29 years ago worked on a school building site as a GC's foreman at 1401 Ave J, Brooklyn NY. City guys came down, did the markings but still my GC's backhoe managed to hit a 1 megawatt lead encase cable buried only 4-5 feet down. It sounded like dynamite exploded, and a chunk of the shovel vaporized (football size), no one hurt, but scared the **** out of the entire neighborhood.. fire trucks and EMS galore. Poor guy working the shovel had the shakes for awhile. The chunk of vaporized metal had to be at least 80lbs.

 

[mhm993]

Had a buddy who properly called the dig first number in upstate ny. When he cut the gas line to his house while trenching, the utilities sheepishly admitted they marked the wrong places, and "could we come out and repair at no cost?".

 

[Joe69]

A couple of years ago, a sister company to the company I work for hit a LARGE gas main. A $500,000 machine went up in flames. It made national news. I can't remember for sure, but I think the locate was off. No one was killed luckily, I don't think the operator was even seriously injured.

We still call it "holey moley". Chop, chop, chop, dig, dig, dig, KABOOM! Holey moley, I think I took one dig too many!

Joe