Dig Safe fail

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I just... can't even... How...
 
In our neighborhood, they marked the underground electrical feed as going along under the middle of the sidewalk. The contractor dug up to about 2 feet from the edge of the sidewalk and...you guessed it. He snagged the cable and tore it free from the tansformer box almost a block away. In the followup, the guy who marked the sidewalk said he didn't think people would see the mark if he sprayed the grass where the line actually was!
 
That looks like telephone, data, and electric wires in India! Great pic!
 
Originally Posted By: Boomer
In our neighborhood, they marked the underground electrical feed as going along under the middle of the sidewalk. The contractor dug up to about 2 feet from the edge of the sidewalk and...you guessed it. He snagged the cable and tore it free from the tansformer box almost a block away. In the followup, the guy who marked the sidewalk said he didn't think people would see the mark if he sprayed the grass where the line actually was!


Who was at fault for that?
 
I've worked in the telecom industry for 38 years.

The way Dig Safe works, at least in MA, is that if it's marked wrong, it's the marker's fault.

Having said that, a cable is considered correctly marked if the mark is within within 18" of the actual location, so if the contractor was 2 feet away, he was not at fault.

Marks are also allowed to be placed further away (called an "offset") as long as it's clearly indicated that the mark is in fact an offset by using an arrow and a number to indicate the direction and distance to the actual location.
 
Yes, it was the marker's fault. The electric company had to come out and redo the underground cable. The bill was sent to the marking company.

And since he marked the MIDDLE of the sidewalk and the wire was hit two feet from the EDGE of the sidewalk, the mark was about 3-1/2 feet from the actual cable.
 
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In my part of town we have wells and septic systems...man those dig safe guys really go to town with the "no water, no sewer" markers. VERY sure of themselves.
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They were grinding the parking lot where I work; i was working on the 3rd floor. The lights flash and the grinding machine (6' drum) suddenly stops and the operator is sort moving quickly away. Wrapped around the drum is a power cable which was apparently buried right under the pavement. yikes. The building was in the ~100 year old range.
 
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Originally Posted By: eljefino
I just... can't even... How...


Simple. Some of the lines marking brackets around items, both buried and exposed. Inside the brackets must be hand excavated, outside the brackets can be machine excavated. There are also markings that indicate the tolerance zone as well as the company identifier. From this angle I can't tell if they are using a four corner mark or dash line.

It looks like there is a combination of communication (orange), electrical (red), and probably some survey markings (purple). I can't tell from this angle if it is all orange, or a combination of orange and red.

The orange and red are existing communications/electrical infrastructure, the purple is likely where they are going to locate some new (probably buried) structure.

It's really not all that hard to understand.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit

It's really not all that hard to understand.


You missed the joke, as this is the humour section:

Why did they spray paint snow? We got another inch, which will cover this paint, and when they dig down, they'll find a little purple snow, but be unable to decode it.

Yeah, I guess it's dumb that someone wants to dig through the frosty ground. But I'm waiting to see how this dig-safe is in fact safe.

PS this is by my office and the boneheads already broke through our poop-pipe last summer.

Semi related "I-did-my-job" reference:

120809_painted_over_raccoon_660.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino

Why did they spray paint snow? We got another inch, which will cover this paint, and when they dig down, they'll find a little purple snow, but be unable to decode it.


The company that does the markings has no choice. Do you expect them to shovel the snow off and then mark it?

At least around here, they try to schedule work like that so they can begin digging between snowfalls so the markings don't get covered. However, from time to time unexpected snow or delays happen, and the locating service (here it's called One Call) comes back out and remaps the area. It's common practice in the winter, not at all unusual, and really not that hard to understand.
 
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