On January 16, AGC released a new survey to identify contractor experiences when conducting underground utility work. The survey updates data AGC initially collected in 2021.
According to the results, nearly two-thirds of utility line strikes by utility contractors during the past year occurred because the lines were at least two-feet away from where they were marked after the firms called 811 before digging. This indicates that although contractors are using the 811 system, which is the nationwide number for construction firms and anyone else planning to excavate are required to call in advance, utility companies need to be timelier and more accurate in marking the locations of their lines.
The survey also found that many firms report having to wait a significant amount of time after calling 811 before utility firms dispatch teams to mark the location of their lines. Eighty-seven percent of respondents report that it takes longer than one business day for locators to arrive at their job sites while one-quarter of survey respondents report it takes five or more business days for location crews to arrive and mark utility lines.
Construction firms also reported that telecom companies are more than twice as likely to cause 811 response delays than any other type of utility. According to the survey, telecom companies cause 811 delays 49 percent of the time, compared with 24 percent for water utilities, 21 percent for gas utilities, 19 percent for other energy utilities and 13 percent for wastewater utilities.
AGC hopes that these results can spur federal action to include support for one-call notification centers in federal pipeline safety legislation, states to update and amend existing 811 locating laws to improve underground locating and states to also consider leveraging new technologies throughout the underground locating process. Survey results may be found here, along with breakouts from various regions of the United States and the states of Louisiana and New Jersey.
For more information, please contact John Chambers at john.chambers@agc.org.