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News |
PHILADELPHIA
CORPORATE
HEADQUARTERS |
The Brodhead Building
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Joseph B. Geraghty
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Morgan Abele
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Stanley Kalsky
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Stephen A. Prousi
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July/August 2008
In March 2008 issue of Underground Focus, Mark Palma along with Jim Holzer wrote about the challenges faced in getting private utilities marked. Palma’s article focused mainly on private utilities at the homeowner level. I would like to expand on his thoughts and address the issues and solutions related to the commercial side of locating private utilities. For the purposes of this article, a private utility refers to a utility owned and maintained by the property owner.
Today’s underground environment is loaded not only with primary service networks, but also with unexpected and unique systems. This applies to private utilities as well. Private systems on commercial, educational and governmental property include electric, communication, water, gas, sewer, video and fiber optic networks. In addition, specialty systems such as fire and security controls, irrigation systems, steam and fuel lines, and fiber optics coexist with the more traditional utility systems. The availability and accuracy of records varies for these systems and at best are useful only as guides. To add to the difficulty factor of locating private utilities at the sites mentioned above, one must realized the inconsistencies that exist and that the lines are a patchwork quilt. Utilities have been added on to, repaired, replaced and abandoned over time. In addition, different construction techniques were used at each site, and possibly at the same site, and the contractors installing the utilities are typically not subject to the same requirements as those installing lines in the public right-of-way.
 Currently, contractors and engineers handled the problem of private utilities in a variety of ways. Many contractors hand dig assuming that they will not encounter any conflicts, while others dig regardless of the presence of unmarked private utilities. Designers and engineers typically make an effort to utilize any existing records and integrate the information into a topographic survey. The engineers will often incorporate a note on the drawings, stating that the contractor is responsible for getting lines marked and if any conflicts arise in the field due to unexpected facilities being found or hit, it needs to be addressed and resolved at that time. “The pressure to redesign and or relocate utilities in conflict in mid project, more than justifies the expense of employing a private locating firm,” according to Ronald R. Rotunno, P.E Senior Project Manager for Naik Consulting Group, PC.
THE RISE OF THE PRIVATE UTILITY LOCATOR
The increasing density of buried utility structures, the success of one-call systems in raising contractor awareness and amplified concerns by contractors and property owners over liability issues has increasingly led to use of private utility location services. These specialty firms are providing contractors and engineers with the marking and mapping necessary to avoid hits that can shut down a complex or send a maintenance staff scrambling to find a shut-off valve. The marking and identification of utilities provides excavators the comfort and confidence to complete their work. Engineers have come to rely upon private utility locating services to ensure that their designs accurately reflect all utilities present. This helps provide costly construction delays and engineering redesigns. The private locator is “next to the last line of defense” wrote Mark Palma in his recent article.
WHO PROTECTS PRIVATE UTILITY LINES?
There is no toll-free one-call system for private utilities. At best, there is an ad-hoc system in place to provide a list of companies providing private utility locating to the owner’s of a private utility system. The companies that fill this role are a varied group of providers, ranging from one-call locators marking lines on the side, SUI companies and specialty private utility locating firms. In nearly all private utility cases, it falls on the contractors or engineers to arrange for the location of private utilities. “Before the use of such locates, we spent approx. $85K in repairs to these facilities in a year and a half. This is not a risk we are willing to take” according to Sean Davis, Construction Supervisor, S & N Communications.
HOW PRIVATE UTILITIES ARE IDENTIFIED IN DIFFERENT STATES
There are no standards in place within the one-call system for ensuring the location of private utilities. Most state laws address the issue by indicating that it is the responsibility of private utility owner to mark and protect their facilities. This is seldom enforced. Some one-call systems indicate in the ticket response codes the presence of private utilities. The state of Maryland, under Miss Utilities, uses a “Code 9” on its one-call tickets to inform contractors that the facility owner has marked up to a transition point, beyond that, the facility is privately owned. (See table on previous page).
THE PROCESS AND MENTALITY OF LOCATING PRIVATE UTILITIES
The processes and mentality needed to locate private utilities differ from other types of utility locating. To begin with, private locating firms assure that records are inaccurate or nonexistent. For many private facility owners, the first accurate record of their facilities comes from the work of the private utility locators. The utility locators must “read the landscape” indicating access points, road cuts or clues indicating the presence and location of the private utilities. Working with the facility owner, existing records, maintenance personnel and others familiar with the locator begins piecing together the utility’s position. It is at this point, using the traditional means available to utility locating, that the utility locators identifies and marks the private utility and completes the puzzle.
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| Dog stuck in manhole rescued |
January 2010
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| Jose Wagner had no idea where his 1½-year old German shepherd, Mater, went when he got lost Tuesday. So the concerned Westminster resident called the Humane Society of Carroll County and discovered the dog’s whereabouts...(more) |
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