How One City Created a Process to Reduce Damage to Their Underground Utilities

In 2019 as a utility provider, we recognized a significant problem emerging in our service area. Unfortunately, many of these issues were caused by utility boring companies damaging our underground water and sewer infrastructure - critical services upon which our customers rely. Consequently, we needed to develop a solution to address this disruptive problem before it got bigger. The solution needed to address the immediate issue while also minimizing potential future harm to our infrastructure.

We conducted a comprehensive review to clearly and thoroughly describe the damages that had been caused. The comprehensive review revealed the problematic practices of utility boring companies were a primary cause of the issues, but it also revealed the issues were not solely caused by the utility bore companies.

We concluded that we are also failing with our inaccurate locates and miscommunications between the utility boring companies and the utility itself. To prevent further damage, we needed to develop a process that helped both parties understand how their individual behaviors contributed to the overall prevention efforts. This would result in a more reliable and workable pro­cess. Resolving these troubling behaviors would require time and effort. To enhance the protection of our underground facil­ities, we needed to establish a policy that promoted shared responsibility. 

• We initiated open communication with utility boring companies and our locators to establish proper procedures for accurately identifying the locations of our underground utilities.
• We emphasized to the utility com­panies the critical need to expose and visually inspect our buried infrastructure before starting any drilling or boring work. This would enable us to verify the accuracy of the locator marks and identify any issues. 

Unfortunately, we found that some utility companies were still subcontracting the work to unqual­ified crews who showed little regard for the integrity of our underground system. These subcontractors seemed solely focused on getting the job done quickly and moving on to the next project, rather than performing the work responsibly. The utility continues to struggle with locators who are not perform­ing their duties properly. As
a result, the company has had to discipline and remove some employees from those positions. So, this plan was not working, and we needed to come up with something new. 

What finally brought everything to where we are today, came about when a subcontractor working for one of the contractors caused significant issues that impacted our water lines. 

In a single subdivision, this subcontractor damaged every water service line on one side of the street. Our crew had to spend two days repairing those damaged services. As a result, the affected homes were with­out water for three days while we flushed and chlorinated the lines and had a boil order issued until we could get good samples back. Then, another subdivision was hit the same way even after every one of the services lines was mark correctly. Since they were unable to follow the proper 811 rules, we decided to create a Utility Reso­lution and City Ordinance, as outlined via the QR code below. 

The initial resistance came from con­tractors who were already following best practices, as they saw no need for the new requirements that didn't apply to all contractors in our city. But we continued to provide communication and support to the utility boring companies. We empha­size the importance of having a positive outlook and we both needed to be patient with the process. 

The utility appointed a single point of contact to manage communication with the participating contractors. This employee would coordinate pre-construc­tion meetings after the companies had submitted their applications and bonds. If a subcontractor is working for them, the subcontractor will need to be the ones to attend the meeting and have the bond in the subcontractor's name. 

At the pre-construction meeting we pro­vide each contractor with a site map and instruct them to call us if the actual site locates differ from the map. We also advise them to contact us if they are unable to locate the water and sewer lines during excavation. We will come out to assist in identifying their locations. We inform them that they will be held responsible for any damage to the line if the map is not onsite when we arrive, or the exposing work has not been completed, even if the locates are inaccurate. 

If they had taken all necessary precau­tions, but still hit us due to inaccurate markings or an unmarked line, we would be at fault and they would not be held responsible. 

• We also invite all the electric, gas, and cable companies to these pre-construction meetings.
• We gave each one of our locators a raise with the emphasis that it requires them to communicate with contractors in the field.
• We purchased a GPR for the hard to locate lines. After implement­ing these new protocols, we, as a utility company, saw a reduction in system damages and improve­ments in overall performance.
• We fostered stronger trust with bore companies as they recog­nized our collaborative, rather than adversarial, approach.
• The boring companies found that new policies leveled the playing field for them because it required close quotes on all work.
• Plus, it helps run all the here today, gone tomorrow, bore contractors out of town because they couldn't provide the bond's or follow rules. This opened up more work for them.