- Thread starter cuby
- Start date
dr sportster
Well-known Member
No , I call an 800 number and they mark all underground lines.
In Illinois if you call they tell you all of the utilities that are on your property so you know who all has to ok it before you can dig. Generally each utility has its own locator, so if the guy showed up to locate the phone line and you asked him to locate everything he will probably say no, not my job. In Illinois they have 48 hours, after that if nothing is marked start digging, it's the utility companies problem if they fail to mark. They should give you a dig number and a time you can start as well.
in Illinois we call JULIE(Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators). They notify all utilities to the site. It's been a while but if memory serves me 811 is for Ameren. Gas and electric are 2 different departments. But just cause they locate don't take it as gospel . Had a 8 inch high pressure steel line that they missed by several feet. Didn't rupture it but put a bucket tooth down each side. Ameren came back out and there statement to me was, H*LL Charlie at least we got it on the right side of the road.
Been around the digging business for over 50 years and never heard of anybody getting a ticket from the law just for hittin a line.
Good Luck.
Been around the digging business for over 50 years and never heard of anybody getting a ticket from the law just for hittin a line.
Good Luck.
Calling the 811 number in Iowa gets the utility companies notified to send out locating people. Each company has to send their own people. So the phone guy would just do the phone. The Gas line fellow would just do the gas lines. So on and so on. They have 48 hours to locate all the recorded utilities. So you just had the phone guy show up. There should be others IF you property has any recorded buried utilities.
In the country the system is kind of vague on many things. My current address brings them out to mark a natural gas line. It is 1100 feet from any place on this property. It runs along a North-South section line. That line is 1100 feet East of this property. The maps show it running on the WEST side of the section line.
I called them when I buried the electric here 5 years ago. The phone and electric guys had zero issues. The young fellow for the gas company was lost. I even showed him the markers at fence lines but he was adamant that his GPS gadget was right. He finally marked a line he "Found" and called it the gas natural gas line he had on his GPS gadget. I guess he did do some good in that he located the water line that used to go to a torn down hog building. I did dig down to it and installed a water hydrant. LOL
So like Charlie posted never totally trust the locations that they mark. Really the call just helps you on liability issues not actual 100% markings.
In the country the system is kind of vague on many things. My current address brings them out to mark a natural gas line. It is 1100 feet from any place on this property. It runs along a North-South section line. That line is 1100 feet East of this property. The maps show it running on the WEST side of the section line.
I called them when I buried the electric here 5 years ago. The phone and electric guys had zero issues. The young fellow for the gas company was lost. I even showed him the markers at fence lines but he was adamant that his GPS gadget was right. He finally marked a line he "Found" and called it the gas natural gas line he had on his GPS gadget. I guess he did do some good in that he located the water line that used to go to a torn down hog building. I did dig down to it and installed a water hydrant. LOL
So like Charlie posted never totally trust the locations that they mark. Really the call just helps you on liability issues not actual 100% markings.
That's how it is in Nebraska and South Dakota also. However if you are really nice and there when they show up as a homeowner you may be able to get them to mark more, but without any warranty on the markings. IIRC, by law they have 3' on each side of the line for error. If you hit it within those lines you are considered at fault. If you hit it, and it was marked incorrectly then they are at fault.
As someone does this everyday in Ohio I am very versed in the Ohio laws. 1 you must make your call before you dig call when breaking the serface of the ground. 2 you MUST wait the 48 business working hours that is if you call in on Friday afternoon you cannot start until Tuesday afternoon 48 working hours. 3 if you know it is marked wrong you must not dig you cannot just dig it up and say oops if you know it was not marked. 4 As for gas lines there are many different kinds there are distrabution, transmission, and midstream I have been to many locates where I was told that the gas company was already here why are you here and politely tell the company I work for has a line in the area and I am here to mark it. 5 And yes the cops can and will come and arrest you if you mess with transmission lines they are highly protected most of those lines you do not dig without a company man on site. 6 You damage a line in any manner it can be devistating to you bank account if you damage a utility. The most important thing to remeber is the call before system is set up to protect all utilities and most everyone that locates lines knows more about the laws than you as property owner knows they will only locate what is on your ticket most of the time, most companys make money per ticket and if you messed up and need a lot more located there boss will ask they stepped out of the locate (the locating companies document very well there work)
This is just some of the basic stuff that goes into a locate
This is just some of the basic stuff that goes into a locate
I work for an excavating company so I deal with this everyday. The 811 number is just a national one call number that gets to the locate notifcation center in your state. In IL its called JULIE. They notify the companies that need to locate that have utilites in the area. Most utility companies now contract the locates out through a locate service. In IL where I am, USIC locates for AMEREN,NICOR,ATT,VERIZION,COMCAST,COMED. So one guy usually locates the entire locate request. They only mark what is shown on their map and only to meters. Anything after meters is considered private and you are on your own. The villages here usually mark water to the curbstop shutoffs by the sidewalks, after that you own them. If the locate is not done entirely by the start date and time you can call in a no show, and they have 2 hours to come and locate. Any time you call back to your one call center be sure to have you dig number on hand. If you hit anything be sure to have your dig number on hand. And my advice is take pictures of where you and digging and where the marks are. In IL they have 18in on each side of the mark. But be sure you have pictures of the marks. Hope this helps
My company rules are if marked after the meter you can be fired and at least wrote up and days off. this is my company rules. Now sometimes there are yellow marks on gas line going to someones house that no one knows how they were put down butt that is very very rare. I have seen it done two times in four years.
well yes the funny thing is when digging around the lines my company has you must use hand tools only. the worst ones I deal with are clearing ROW's for other utilities. They always say we were not digging and are company does not have to do one calls. Saw that comment cost one company over 6 thousand dollars one time. For doing some planning and a free call this does not make sense.
I have an 8 inch gas line that goes through my property. It's a supply line for a Honda plant. The gas company digs down to make connections for houses across the road from my place. They used to use a backhoe to do all the digging. A couple weeks ago they did it all with a shovel,guess that's why.
Dan in North Houston
Member
I did the Texas call about a month ago to have the lines located at the front of the property. The phone company marked their line, but that was all. I knew that there was a water line in the area, so I called the water utility to double check. They had no record of being notified from the one-call center. They said it occasionally happens that something falls through the cracks. They came out and sure enough, their line was right where I wanted to dig. I guess that if I would not have called them directly and hit their line, it would not have been my fault since I did have the file number from my one-call.
Regarding the earlier post about having to call before digging anywhere on your property, I can see that in any easement across the property, but outside any utility easement?
Regarding the earlier post about having to call before digging anywhere on your property, I can see that in any easement across the property, but outside any utility easement?
Rollie NE PA
Well-known Member
In Pennsylvania we call "PA One Call". Years ago the as the foreman for the county road department we had to install guide rail along the road close to a water filtration plant. The water utility marked the area where they water lines, electric lines and phone lines that run along the road to the chlorination plant. After driving several 6 ft posts we hit something hard. Figuring it was a big rock we run the ram hammer higher up the tower to break thru the rock. The hemmer came down on the post and the post disappeared. We had driven the post thru a 3 ft cast iron water pipe. Water company had never marked it and as a result they had a welder onsite for two days welding the pieces back together. We didn't have to pay for the damage.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
When the bridge in front of my house was replaced the wrong phone company was called to locate the phone line. When the guy from the wrong company came he was looking at the map and scratching his head because he couldn't find anything on his map. I told him what my phone company really was and he said "well that's why I can't find it". He painted a circle in the grass, stuck a flag in the circle and left. No one from the proper phone company showed up. The excavator came in and cut the phone line but he didn't do anything about it because he thought the flag in a circle meant the phone line was dead. I told him it Is dead now because my phone doesn't work now that he cut the line. He got on the phone right away and the phone company showed up and trenched in a new phone line. I always wondered who had to pay the bill.
Blackhole49
Well-known Member
- Location
- White Lake MI
If you drove a guardrail post through a 36" water main, it would have disappeared all right, into the sky. In a matter of several seconds that hole would have been large enough to swallow your "hemmer" rig.
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