The Inside Outside Guys: Infrastructure, and the importance of Miss Dig

We take it for granted.

The electricity that charges our phones. The gas that fires our furnace. The cable that supplies our internet.

We just assume that these sources will continue to deliver day after day, week after week.

But, according to the Damage Information Reporting Tool report of 2021 compiled by the Common Ground Alliance, we are damaging underground infrastructure to the tune of $30 billion every year.

Buried lines are protected from wind, ice and tree damage, the most common causes of outages. There are 20 million miles of them in the United States and one is damaged every six minutes.

Truth is, it is less expensive to run lines above ground.

In 2019, North Carolina funded a study to explore locating all such infrastructure underground only to find it would increase utility customers monthly bills by a shocking 125%.

Contractors are the primary culprit in the over 192,000 reported unique damage incidents to underground infrastructure in 2021.

According to the Edison Electric Institute, this “out of sight, out of mind issue” has held steady or slightly increased year after year while the three main causes continue to prevail.

The No. 1 cause? No 811 notification prior to excavation. No. 2 is failure to maintain safe clearance from marked utilities and No. 3 is utility error in marking the underground facilities.

Natural gas lines and telecommunication lines consistently are the two most common victims of these issues.

The Energy Information Administration, EIA, tells us that 18% of the distribution line mileage in the U.S. is underground, so proper location prior to any excavation is essential to avoid loss of services, loss of power, and potential loss of life.

Most of the solution is really simple.

In Michigan, notify the Michigan Utility Notification Center, more commonly known to us as Miss Dig, not less than 72 hours before an excavation takes place.

Public Act 174 of 2013, which replaced PA 53 of 1974, established legal provisions for enhancing public safety by requiring formation of a public service, funded by more than 1,500 utility providers in this state to provide free and timely marking of known underground facilities prior to excavation.

The service is easy to use, and anyone can take advantage of it, whether you are a contractor or a homeowner anticipating commencement of a project where excavation of any type is involved.

Keep in mind this includes drilling into the ground for deck or fence posts.

You simply call 8-1-1 or go online to Missdig.org. You will be asked about project type and location among other things including anticipated start date.

You must provide such notification a minimum of 72 hours prior to start and a maximum of 14 calendar days prior to commencement.

You can call or contact them 24/7/365 because it is so important.

They will, in turn, notify their affected participating members who will schedule a locator to mark the utilities’.

It is not an exacting science.

Depth of the service is not noted for excavators, but placement of a flag or other marking like paint indicates the approximate location of the line and establishes a “soft excavation” zone where those digging are cautioned to hand dig to expose the actual utility and establish its path and depth underground.

Various color markings will represent different types of utilities or boundaries.

They use the American Public Works Association system to codify the markings.

Red indicates an electric line, orange is telecommunications, yellow cautions of a natural gas line, green represents sewer, blue is potable water while purple is reclaimed water, pink indicates a temporary survey boundary and white is a proposed excavation limit.

Upon notification, Miss Dig will establish contact with those involved, set up the markings, and issue a Miss Dig Ticket compiling and formalizing the information.

The ticket will include a Miss Dig start date and work must commence within 14 days of that date.

It is a fairly simple and easy process to use and may not only serve to protect underground utilities and save lives but may contribute to allowing all of us to continue taking these great services for granted.

The caveat is to always use professional contractors you can trust. Like those you’ll find at insideoutsideguys.com.

For more advice, listen to the Inside Outside Guys every Saturday and Sunday on AM760-WJR from 10 a.m. to noon or contact us at insideoutsideguys.com.