As more facilities are placed underground, it can be cumbersome to work around them when having to excavate in close proximity to existing facilities. Improved methods and processes to reduce damages continue to be developed to conduct safe excavation and minimize the potential for damage.
Alabama’s underground damage prevention law outlines in statute section 37.15.8 precautions to avoid damages. Part of these guidelines include the use of non-invasive methods of excavation. This is often interpreted as vacuum excavation. The intended use of vacuum excavation, or noninvasive methods, is to allow for direct excavation around buried facilities with minimal chance of damage. Additional uses for this technology have been expanded to use in exposing facilities and even locating facilities. Some states have expanded legal requirements to expose facilities with test holes, potholing or daylighting, to determine the exact location before regular excavation practices begin.
The use of these technologies has been proven to help minimize potential third-party excavation damage to underground facilities. In enforcement actions processed by the Alabama Underground Damage Prevention Authority (ALUDPA), the reported total number of alleged violations in 2024 was 481, and almost 370 of those alleged violations reported damage to an underground facility. Various factors resulted in these damages, but being able to include technologies such as vacuum excavation to reduce the risk of damage can be lifesaving.