Underground utilities - not as deep as you'd think

The recent issue of Damage Prevention Professional Magazine shows photos which point out the need to watch out for buried utility lines hear the surface. While damages which occur in such instances are often blamed on construction contractors who are digging, there's much to suggest that when such damages take place, utility companies and the firms they contract to install underground lines may bear some of the blame.

While all but three states require marks to be within 18 to 24 inches of the actual underground location of buried lines and pipes, not every state's laws speak to the matter of depth of lines. However, a number of states do provide guidance on the matter, as does a federal study, suggesting that it's recognized that lines should be buried deep enough to ensure that light digging or scraping doesn't hit them.

Common Ground Alliance's Best Practices 9.0 released

The Common Ground Alliance released its Version 9.0, the latest update for standards for underground utility installation, locating and construction operations in the vicinity of underground facilities.

In addition to setting Best Practices to guide safe operations, they were used as one of the most important sources of guidance in updating South Carolina's underground utility damage prevention and safety laws last year.

If you're involved in these issues, go check out this important update.

Common Ground Alliance: Advocates for safe digging

Safe digging is a shared responsibility between many stakeholders, including utilities, landowners, contractors, locators, public safety and regulatory officials. Getting on the same page is a continual challenge, so it's best to get ahead of the game.

If you're not already involved, the Common Ground Alliance is a non-profit stakeholder group in Canada and the United States which advocates best practices and partnerships, with local chapters in most provinces and states. It's Best Practices, currently in Version 9.0, is a set of standards for safe digging developed by consensus between representatives from member stakeholder groups. These standards were referenced often in last year's team efforts to re-write South Carolina's underground utility safety laws.

The South Carolina chapter holds its quarterly meeting Monday at 10 at the SC811/PUPS offices in Columbia. As the current Vice-Chair and one of the charter members, I encourage you to get involved.