What are the best practices to prevent damage to underground utilities during excavation?

Another way to avoid damaging critical underground utilities is using trail digs manually in a zigzag pattern. This approach will give the more accurate plan before starting machine excavation

In my experience utility identification , marking and locating is most critical activity. This will reduce 50% chance of utility damage. Best ways are- 1. Give intimation letters to all utilities along with permissions and Ask for as-built drawings or maps to all utilities. 2. Contact experienced patroller, Employee, labour or contractors and local resident to identify utility with the most possible location and offsets. 3. Locate utility by using modern advance locators. 4. Take cross pits with manual excavation in stages and zig-zag manners at fixed interval. 5. Make history / records with depth, offsets, types of utilities with size and other critical informations.

Key practices include contacting utility companies for marking, using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology, reviewing utility maps, calling before digging, hand digging near utilities, employing proper excavation techniques, installing protective barriers, maintaining clear communication, conducting regular inspections, and providing training to excavation crews. Would like to note personnel should always wear appropriate PPEs during such activities.

On any level of complex project, more than marking and locating utilities is required. Too often, the depth of pipes on as-built records is incorrect, design teams presume heights, and challenges are then experienced in the field due to incorrect or lacking information. The solution to this is to potholing and hydrovac all crossing and point of connections prior to starting undergrounds. Have survey crews identify locations in the field based on prior marking and locating, then survey all points from potholes (adjacent surface, heights of pipes, flow lines). When completed, route this information back to the Civil team and underground teams prior to excavations beginning. Most of the costly mistakes will be caught and fixed by doing so.

1. Determine the exact location of underground installations by safe and acceptable means when excavation operations approach the approximate location of the installations. 2. Ensure that while the excavation is open, buried utilities are protected, supported, or temporarily removed to safeguard the works and provide easement. 3. Utilize non-intrusive techniques like hand excavation and ground-penetrating radar to identify and confirm the location of utilities. 4. Avoid underground services and make sure not to undermine nearby structures – use safe digging practice and dig away from them. 5. Check the excavation each day before starting work and after any event that may affect its stability

Communication between excavator and locator is key to preventing damages. Planning the excavation to follow best practices and dig law requirements to safely excavate or expose the utility. Dig laws vary from state to state. Respect the tolerance zone. Verify the marks. Don't dig on the marks. Maintain a safe clearance. Daylight the utility. Safety begins with you!

I agree, everyone in Australia must contact ‘Dial before you dig’ to understand where all existing utilities are running. DBYD will email out the Sydney water diagrams including sewer storm water and gas mains as well as all Aus grid underground electrical diagrams and NBN. Analysing this information prior to any excavation will create a safe and informed dig. A geo technical report should always obtained as well to understand the soil conditions.

Exposing facilities is critical but so to is proper line identifications especially where multiple facilities of the same type, material and size are present, not to mention abandoned facilities are often mistaken as live facilities.

Collect as built data, check for clashes, conduct LPI, go for trial pits/trenches, safe guard / protect existing utilities prior to commencement of excavations

To avoid damages to underground utilities, among the good practices are to study the plans of underground utilities then make a pilot excavation to atleast locate the actual depths of these underground excavations. Then during the actual excavation, the operator and flagman should have constant communication. Remember to orient the flagman to never leave the operator during the activity. The flagman should also be mindful of caution tapes or the beddings which are usually required to be placed on top of each utilities embedded on the backfill.

Every worker needs to be a part of a JHA , FHLA. The importance of listening to the worker’s experience and concerns are vital. Safety must be a top priority over production. Each worker and management must come to a 100% consensus to the plan. The more planning the less incidents

Make sure the excavating team have read the method statements produced by others - where the services are located and what extra safety measures are required. From my practical experience, this miscommunication sometimes leads to expensive consequences.

Another best practice is to communicate with your team and other stakeholders about your excavation project. You should inform your crew, subcontractors, suppliers, and clients about the utility location and the excavation plan. You should also coordinate with the utility owners or operators to ensure their safety and cooperation. You should have a clear communication system and a designated point of contact for any questions or issues that may arise during the work

I also agree with the above statement. This is usually captured at a tailgate meeting and during permit review… which includes review of agreements during a walkthrough, and review of procedures to be used during excavation. This should be completed whether this includes hand or mechanical excavation and support for the buried utilities being exposed.

By ground scanning & metal detection we can avoid the unforeseen Underground utilities. Also, by digging manually exploration trenches with certain depth to discover what's lying underneath. as well we have to search seriously for the ground old schematic which might guide us for the buried Underground utilities to avoid damaging them.

With my experience in underground work, utilizing hydrovacs and hand digging procedures are a key element to working with services that encroach where your new utility will be placed. Backfill with sand so while you're trenching in your service once you start hitting the marked sand backfill area you know you're coming close to said services that are within your trench.

Agreed, with the following additions. All buried utilities exposed with 5.0m of the excavation, or as per agreement and/or rep. All buried utilities must remain exposed during mechanical excavation activities, or the mechanical excavation must stop until the buried utility is once again exposed. All agreements must be on site, reviewed and followed… no exceptions.

xcavate alongside the service rather than directly above it. Final exposure of the service by horizontal digging is recommended, as the force applied to hand tools can be controlled more effectively. Insulated tools should be used when hand digging near electric cable

Before excavation to proceed one locate the underground utility properly.Depth of utility should be checked.proper safety precaution to be taken.

Call 811 or a private locate if needed. Have a plan and your employees properly trained. Barricade off open areas. Hand dig near known utility sources. Communicate with your team.

This is true, but should be in the planning stage as it should be part of the ERP. In an emergency, a quick reference is essential. If you hide damage to a buried utility, the potential for a disaster later is likely. Take accountability for your actions and report it.

If the underground utility got accidently damage during the excavation work, the concern activity must be stop and the owner or operator of the utility must be notify. The activity must only resume after the repairing of the damage utility by owner/operator or team assigned by the owner and through investigation.

As-builts ain't always correct. Locators may NOT get ALL the utilities in that specific (especially on private properties). All one can do is best practices and planning. This will help to minimize utility strikes but during larger construction having REAL TIME AS-BUILTS will help reduce possible new build utilities...

Por eso es importante la presencia del operador de la red, toda vez es quien conoce los circuitos o donde se puede suspender el servicio durante la reparación.

These practices are correct. Also using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) or the Genny, is crucial as in many instances the underground utilities map is not matching.

La tarea mas importante para las infraestructuras subterráneas es saber exactamente en donde están, y contar cada una con una medida que asegure su visibilidad antes de generar da?os. Para esto, es de suma importancia que los Ayuntamientos, cuenten con un área enteramente dedicada a llevar el control y seguimiento de cada cambio; toda vez que las diferentes infraestructuras son administradas y realizadas por empresas diferentes en tiempos diferentes y todas son de vital importancia para la ciudad, este órgano del Ayuntamiento debería contar con un registro actualizado de cada cambio y de cada nueva línea que construyera, así como establecer los protocolos para atención en caso de da?os.

utiliser les nouvelles technologies ( géolocalisation) pour la remontée d'informations concernant la localisation des réseaux enterrés cela permettra pour les suivants qui viendront creuser d'avoir des informations fiables

What is explained above is a standard practice that shall be considered for excavation for underground cable installations. However, I suggest the following. 1- Make sure to avoid cable trenches collapse( use scaffolding) 2- Remove excavated soil away from the cable trench edges. 3- If existing facilities are encountered, minimum crossing distance shall be considered. This is important when crossing communications cable. 4- In addition to registering cable route location on " As built drawings" , it is good practice to mark the cable joint locations in comparison with existing permanent structures for future reference. 5- Test excavations along the selected cable route may help to select the best excavation method.

The first thing everyone needs to do is contact diggers hotline (811) and locate all public utilities in the excavation area at least 3 days prior to putting a hole in the ground.If you are on a client’s existing site…. You may also need to contact a private locator for on site utilities installed by the property owner. If the property has fiber optic cables or high voltage lines not encased in concrete. I found to reduce risk of damage to the lines or electrocution…..it’s best to contract a hydro jet vac company to come in and pot hole excavate the location of the marked lines before you get close with an excavator. Above all else you need to follow safety procedures…..so have the safety meetings with the entire team before beginning.

Better still, make the owners of the utilities responsible for knowing exactly where they are, what they are and what state of repair they are in. Put that in a database and make it available to the people who are trying to build

How successful this activity is, greatly depends on the quality and accuracy of as built records of Statutory Authorities. In most places, with very old developments, underground utilities were not properly recorded at the time of placement rendering it a very tough process for subsequent straightforward excavations to progress sometime in the future. Regardless, the best practice to ensure avoiding or limiting underground utility strikes is to pilot in the beginning at strategic locations deduced by superimposing permanent works on existing utility records and acquiring accurate coordinates. Subsequently, imposing a very regimental permitting system to ensure that all excavations are properly planned and controlled in a risk based manner.

Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) is the first step in the planning and design phase. Designating the utilities using ASCE 38-22 will allow designers to avoid conflicts with as many utilities as possible. The data collected by a GIS System like ProStar Pointman gives near survey data for mapping the utilities and is noted on the bid documents for better bidding. The Federal Highway Administration has used SUE for nearly three decades. SUE saves money! It reduces damages! It improves safety! Colorado DOT uses SUE and Pointman GIS mapping technology to improve damage prevention while saving money.

In my experience I find that re-routing of the services and not updating the building plans contribute significantly to the damage of the underground utilities, hence I always encourage stakeholders to stick to what is approved as any form of descripancy may result in project delay or cost implications.

I am a skilled dowser, don't mock it actually works. With my rods I can locate utilities of any type and depth and indicate the direction of flow. I do not practice it these days but your local dowsing society will be pleased to help if needed.