Page 7 - Tennessee 811 Magazine 2021 Issue 3

lot of utilities that used to be put on poles are now being buried including power, telephone, and cable lines. The fiber boom has increased the number
of conduits and fiber facilities installed in the ground. Even when utility systems are upgraded or replaced, old facilities may be abandoned in place, which leaves an unlocatable line in the ground. So, as you can imagine, the utility rights of way are getting full both laterally and vertically.
What does this mean for locators? Much higher chances of your locate signal “bleeding” off onto another facility. This is why it is important
to monitor your depth and current readings throughout your locate to
be sure you are staying on your target facility. But even the best locators can sometimes run into a situation where you are getting two signals with very similar current and depth readings. In these cases, you must go with what makes the most sense and try another access point to apply your signal from to be able to decipher which signal is your target utility.
Let’s wrap it up by talking a little about mapping. Mapping plays a key role in getting utilities marked accurately. The facility maps point out access points, which side of the road the utility should be on, as well as other important information regarding material and size of the facility. If a utility doesn’t have the most accurate or up to date maps, or older facilities that are not even
on the maps, this makes completing an accurate locate more difficult. It
is important to have a good mapping system for your facility to ensure that you have every opportunity to mark and protect those facilities when an 811 ticket is called in.
The next time you uncover a facility that is unmarked, or you believe to be mismarked, just remember all the variables that go into the ability to mark that facility accurately – I can promise you that locators are not out there intentionally mismarking facilities.
Thank you, locators, for doing everything you can to overcome obstacles and provide accurate markings so that contractors and homeowners can dig safely and confidently to complete the growing number of excavation projects across our state.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Qualifies as an Emergency?
Answer:
When time is money, every job can feel like a priority, but that doesn’t mean every locate request qualifies as an emergency. If your situation is an imminent danger to life, health, or property, or if your work includes repair or restoration of service then it qualifies as an emergency under state law.
An immediate emergency should be declared only if there is imminent danger, and you should have a crew either on-site or enroute. The idea is that someone’s life, health, or property will be endangered if you do not begin your excavation work within two hours. An immediate emergency gives locators a two-hour response window, but an excavator can begin work immediately provided they contact 811 as soon as feasibly possible. Examples of an immediate emergency could be a water main break, a gas line rupture, certain communications outages, etc.
An impending emergency should be requested when there is a potential danger to life, health, or property and for repair or restoration of service. In other words, if a repair isn’t made soon, it could escalate into an immediate risk to life, health, or property. Because of the potential to escalate, excavation can’t wait 72 business hours like a normal locate, but
it doesn’t have to be started in less than two hours. In this case, you tell
us what time you will be there to start the work and that is the time the utilities are allotted to locate their facilities. It gives some planning time for the utilities to get out there – they don’t have to drop everything and be there in two hours or less, but they don’t have three working days either. An impending emergency gives some scheduling flexibility.
All emergency locates must be called in, and Tennessee 811 accepts those calls 24/7.
Remember, every time someone calls in an emergency ticket, it jumps ahead of normal locates, so it shouldn’t be used unless there really is an emergency – immediate or impending. Failure to call in a normal locate request on time is not an emergency and neither is realizing that your normal ticket didn’t cover a big enough area.
If your situation is not an emergency, but you need a quicker turnaround, we can submit your ticket as a short notice. A short notice ticket is only a request – not a guarantee – but you get to specify a desired start date and time to see if the locators can respond any quicker than the time allowed for on a normal locate.
Misrepresentation of an emergency is a violation of state law and is subject to penalties if reported to the state. First offense is required training, subsequent offenses can result in training and monetary penalties up to $10,000. Willful noncompliance or gross negligence violations can result in penalties up to $15,000. So far in the life of the enforcement program, there have been 16 citations for false emergencies across the state.
By Kathy Quartermaine, Damage Prevention Liaison Tennessee811
2021, Issue 3 Tennessee811 • 5