Safe Digging Practices: How to Determine Buried Utility Assets

Underground Utility Locators

Working on or around underground utilities can be fatal, and even if you take precautions, damages are sometimes inevitable. Understanding and use of safe digging practices are essential to prevent or minimize damaging these underground utilities.

This article emphasizes the precautions and safe digging practices you should employ while determining buried utility assets to avoid damages, ensure the safety of the workers as well as people around the working site.

Use a utility locator

Whether you are dealing big or small projects, it is crucial to use a reliable underground utility locator anytime you are preparing to dig underground assets. Never assume the presence of utility lines or think their depth remains the same. Sometimes the utility lines are not where they seem to be through a range of sight, and their depth can change over time due to factors like erosion, uneven surfaces or previous projects.

The services of professionals in underground utilities help in identifying the utility lines, white line them and determine how deep the utility assets are. The use of professional services ensures the accuracy and gives confidence of excavation with less exposure to dangers. See potholing services near me.

Use caution after the digging sites are flagged

After the identification of the correct location of the utility, taking precautions is necessary to avoid damages of assets. Don’t assume that the marked utility line is the only one there. You need to dig about four feet away from either side of the marked utility lines, and in case you need to dig closer or cross the flags or markings, then you need to use hand tools to expose the buried assets. Use of hand tools determines the exact location, exposes the facilities and it is safer to avoid damaging the underground facility.

Call if your lines become unclear on your digging site

Circumstances like bad weather and work disturbance can cause your markings to become incorrect, obscured, miss or become obliterated. In such cases, don’t go off your memory on where the lines were. Instead, you should contact underground utility locating services which will help in identifying the buried lines and give you the exact location and depth of your utility.

Do not remove paint marks or flags until you complete your work

Presence of paint markings and banners on your site means that the excavation or digging work is still ongoing. Removal of the flags before the work completion can lead to confusion on the different type of utilities which can eventually cause fatal accidents and damages to assets.

Support and protect utility assets when exposed

Once you reach the facility during your digging process, ensure safe backfilling to prevent damages on the facility and maintain their coating. Provision of support beneath further prevents sagging and collapse of the facilities.

The Takeaway

Anytime you plan to dig into the ground, the chances of hitting the utility pipes and wires are high. Cutting or damaging utility wires and pipes is not only costly but also extremely dangerous as they can result in explosions, electrocutions and sometimes fires. To prevent such occurrences, safe digging practices and use of underground utility locator services is very important they will ensure your safety during digging.

For more information about safe digging practices and for utility location, contact Util-Locate. Our company has been in the service of providing underground utility locating since 2001.

3 Important Tips in Choosing The Best Utility Locator

Excavation Location

Before beginning any project – construction, excavation or demolition –  it is recommended to perform utility locating on the site. This is the initial step that has to be executed if you are planning a project that requires excavating.

Hiring professionals to map water pipes, sewer lines, drainage pipes, electrical lines, and internet cables will lead to speeding up the project. You no longer have to dig carefully, slowly or get interrupted. Utility locating ensures safety and will eliminate repair costs hence saving on time and money. These are some of the reasons why utility locating services are required before any project.

Here are some important factors to consider prior to choosing a Utility Locator.

Go for an experienced, licensed professional

When contracting a utility locator, make sure you choose a company that has been in the industry for many years and has the relevant experience and knowledge. An experienced utility locator will provide a comprehensive view of the project’s site by locating, identifying and marking all underground utilities and structures. Also, consider a utility locating company that has handled many different types of projects both large and small.

Working with such a utility locator implies he has a good reputation and can provide references especially on high profile jobs. Do a background check to learn more about the company you are considering to hire. Furthermore, the customer reviews will reveal the experience of real customers in the hands of the utility contractor. Moreover, you will discover any complaints leveled against him and the status of his license, i.e. valid, expired or revoked.

Choose Util-Locate for your utility locating requirements. We are in business for almost 20 years. Our team of professionals are skilled and proficient in finding power lines to garages and exterior structures, electrical cable for lighting, drainage pipes for gardens and gutters, sprinkler lines and invisible fencing, gas lines for grills and fire pits.

Equipment and Technology

Choose a company that uses the most advanced technology and locating techniques to ensure superior quality, accuracy and reliability. As technology is advancing day by day, each utility company is endeavoring to acquire sophisticated electronic equipment and adopting technology-aided utility locating techniques. This equipment helps to interpret the signals easily and offer the most detailed underground mapping solutions, helping you locate the utility lines as they are. The scope of such underground mapping can range from a building construction site to the whole city and even identify utility lines running under highways and buildings.

Thus, make sure that you select a utility location company with advanced tools and methodologies to help you in your development projects. Read more about pipe locator service.

Reliability

The third factor to be taken into consideration is the reliability of the utility locating company. Look for a company that has a broad reach and are capable of delivering services to nearly any location. Such  company is better positioned to tackle any of your project’s site because they are located locally.

If you’re looking for professional utility locating services, go for Util Locate, where you are guaranteed of the most accurate information without having to disturb existing landscaping.

Comprehensive Southern California Utility Marking Surveys

Utility Making Surveys

Util-Locate provides Subsurface Utility-line Mapping services to our clients including field-mapping and providing Computer Aided Drawing in PDF format for future use.

After we field-locate and identify the utility lines, we then field-map the locations by physically measuring off-sets from buildings and or landmarks and noting the utilities by drawing-in the locations on a site-plan.

We can take it one-step further by providing you with a Computer Aided Drawing or AutoCAD to be implemented on an existing site-drawing for record or future use. We will also save the drawing in PDF format for easier viewing which will give you the liberty in transferring the e-file drawing via e-mail to whomever and whenever you would like. In order to provide you with a finished product, we would need from you a CAD file of the project site for this work to be done. See more underground utility locator.

Further Information:

Util-Locate is not a licensed Civil Engineer or Surveyor in-order for our mapping-work to be certified. We map the utility-locations as accurately as possible by using measuring & mapping tools. Our mapping work is to show all surveyed utilitities & give our client a basic overview of the project they are engaging in and to help assess what to expect when designing or performing the preliminary site-work.

If you would like more information about our services and pricing in Southern California, call us Toll Free at 1-866-421-5325 and we will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Dig with Confidence : Call Our Underground Utility Locators

Underground Utility Locators

Extreme caution must be used when locating buried utilities and excavating! There are many factors to be considered such as: soil conditions, a condition of pipe or cable. (Continuous, broken or cut line or badly corroded, etc.). We are trained to use very sophisticated electronic equipment and we have the ability to interpret the signals which this equipment emits. This is the key to a successful locate, which allows you to dig with confidence. We work with you and for you! Read more about underground cable locating.

There are several different methods we use to locate utilities. The best way is to emit an electromagnetic signal from a pipe. This is done by attaching a transmitter to the pipe and following it with a receiver. If we can’t achieve a direct connection to the pipe, we can attach a clamp that encircles the pipe or a coil placed above the pipe. This method works for metal conduits or cables that are welded, soldered or braided together. There are many pipes that are made from materials that cannot be detected with conventional methods such as plastic, clay, concrete, and insulated cast iron. But we still have methods to locate these pipes too! That’s where our experience and expertise is such a great asset to you.

Call us toll free for service 1-866-421-5325

Util-Locate® uses the latest technology and equipment available to insure the very best chances of an accurate reading. However we must stress this point: Our services are a very valuable tool to the contractor, excavator or homeowner but not every cable or pipe can be detected.

 

Orange County Sewer Pipe Locator : Locating Sewer Lines Made Easier

Orange Country Sewer Pipe Locator

`Are you a homeowner trying to add a new bedroom and bath? If yes, one of the tasks you would face would be locating sewer pipes. Sewer lines, may it be public or private, are often hard to find since they’re almost invisible. Sewer pipes are buried underground and you may have to dig your entire yard to find them. Having a hard time locating your sewer line? Take the guesswork out of locating where your sewers and drains are by calling our team of utility locators. Conveniently located in Buena Park in northwestern Orange County, our team of utility locators is ready to accurately detect sewer pipes and other underground utilities™ location.

State-Of-the-Art Sewer Pipes Locating Equipments

Whether you are looking for drainage lines, supply lines or various service lines buried beneath the surface of the ground, Util-Locate has the equipment and staff to handle the assignment. Some forms of pipe locating equipment do not work as well on sewer lines. Sewer pipe locators use specialized equipment that can be used for pipe locating of non-metallic sewer lines at depths up to 13 feet from the surface.

Are you a Contractor? Call us before you excavate!

Are you a project manager or an excavation crew? Util-Locate’s All-Around Utility Locators Also Offer Utility Mapping and Sewer Pipe Locating Services for Southern California Contractors. Call Util-Locate technicians to locate and mark underground utilities such as sewer pipes. Doing so prior to an excavation will help reduce the risk of accidentally running into private utilities, such as sewer pipes.

With a reliability rate of 97 percent, sewer pipe locators such as Util-Locate are able to provide a complete and dependable mapping service that allows contractors to plan projects efficiently and at lower cost. Without the benefits of a pipe locating service, these contractors would have higher costs due to extensive hand digging around suspected sewer line locations. There are a number of underground utilities that often go unmarked and striking them can mean trouble at your end. Read more about vaccum excavation.

So know what’s below before you excavate. Call our sewer pipe locators at 866-421-5325 today!

 

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