call before you dig

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

the house and garage are over 60 years old and i see no evidence to suggest the location of any wiring.

how long have you lived there?

im not trying to be a jerk, but you really had no clue if your garage was hooked to the house or if it has it's own separate service from the city?

[Jets4Life]

I work as a line locator, and my co-worker and I usually go the extra mile to help out our existing clients. We primarily locate gas/oil lines for various oil companies, but also locate electrical cable, telecommunications, and water lines.

If you want more details, you can PM me.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

so, i had alberta one call come out about 3 weeks ago to locate all lines around my backyard, so i could have an auger come and dig some fence post holes. they located only one line, which was the gas line, coming in off the alley. well, on saturday, the auger came and as we were digging a few holes, we noticed an old electrical line wrapped around the auger. at first, we thought it was just a remnant of some older project. as it turns out, it was actually the underground power line connecting my house to the garage. so, now i am without power in the garage because the 'call before you dig' people didn't locate the line.

i just got off the phone with alberta one call and they told me they do not locate 3rd party services and i am out of luck. so, the big wire connecting my house and my garage were not located by one call, and i was totally unaware of an underground line in that location.

word to the wise, just because you called alberta one call, does not mean they will actually located all underground services that could be dangerous, which leads me to ask, why only locate some services and not others?

we are assigned many one calls around the Calgary area. I copied this from the one call site, which explains tips on placing your one call.

The homeowner may not be aware that these facilities will go un-located if they just phone in a locate request to Alberta One-Call. As the contractor, it is necessary to be aware of the work site. Where is the meter? Is there a propane storage tank? This can be aboveground or underground with underground supply piping to the building. Is there a detached garage or outbuilding with lighting? Is there a poolheater or gas grill? How about underground sprinkling system or underground wires to keep the family pet within the property?

Also remember that previous property owners may have installed lines. Take a few minutes and review these items with the homeowner prior to beginning excavation.

When we receive one call jobs on our laptop, we always have notes from the Screener, who fielded the call from the client. We also have maps detailing the work area. From there, we proceed to show up and locate lines, to determine if it falls within the designated work area, or if it is close enough to avoid being considered a "conflict."

As a general rule, we call a gas/oil line that falls within 30m of the work area a "conflict," or 2m-5m for a electrical, telecommunications, or fibre cable line.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

A co worker almost lost his life because a city primary power line was just below the surface. Point is, you can never be too careful when it comes to electricity.

That's actually a pet peeve of mine with Alberta one call, I don't think they tell you depth of lines.

If requested, we can definitely take readings with our equipment to determine the depth of the underground lines. We happen to use the Fuji PL-960 Pipe and Cable Locator:

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by moon

I talk to them multiple times a week and they exactly what you suggest.

They tell you the companies which will be contacted and that all other lines are your responsibility.

Also most of the time it is the fault of companies like Telus for f'Ing up the locate for their services not 1st call.

Not trying to be judgemental, but I've heard many locators who work for Telus exclusively are usually ok in their comfort zone (hooking on to DC and tracing out the signal), but many in the industry find them ineffective when trying to locate the signal inductively, or when complications arise (re-bar distorting the signal, etc).

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

If requested, we can definitely take readings with our equipment to determine the depth of the underground lines. We happen to use the Fuji PL-960 Pipe and Cable Locator:

I know it can be done, but we've been told they don't tell us depth for liability reasons. If an electricity line is located, you're technically supposed to hand expose the line so you know where it is. We use first call all the time and we never get depth of lines. I wish we would, but I understand why we don't.

[GP_Matt]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

I know it can be done, but we've been told they don't tell us depth for liability reasons. If an electricity line is located, you're technically supposed to hand expose the line so you know where it is. We use first call all the time and we never get depth of lines. I wish we would, but I understand why we don't.

The Fuji's do a decent job with depth, but with some of the locators the accuracy is double the depth displayed. so if it tells you it is 6 feet deep it will be between 3 and 12 feet. There is no way someone is going to mark the depth when they can be that inaccurate. If you need a depth the only true way to get it is to expose the line or use probes for pipes.

On a side note, I had a one call at my house and it is definitely as FL said. All they do is contact companies in the area and tell them to locate the services.Then each party sends their guy out to locate their line. We have Atco and they actually send out two crews, one for gas and the other for electric. Telus sent me an email to tell me not to worry about the Telus line. I probably wouldn't hit it and if I do they will come out to fix it at no charge to me.

[speede5]

Crappy way to learn what services are and aren't provided. I would never have expected that line located, but I have a lot of experience with building and elctrical. Joe homeowner I can see making this mistake (assumption). Whomever does the line locates should let you know they are only looking at the primary service lines, not secondary lines.

For the future, you should be able to ballpark the location of the garage service line by locating the conduit where it leaves the house and whee it enters the garage and drawing a straight line between the two. This will get you close and you can dig it out from there. It may come into the garage through the foundation but it shouldn't be leaving the house underground.

Thats going to be an expensive repair.

BTW, do you have gas in the garage? If so you best make sure that line is safe. When we put our last garage in we ran a trace wire with the suppply line from the house to the garage for future locate.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

how long have you lived there?

im not trying to be a jerk, but you really had no clue if your garage was hooked to the house or if it has it's own separate service from the city?

i've been there for 5 years. how the hell am i supposed to see whats underground?

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by speede5

Crappy way to learn what services are and aren't provided. I would never have expected that line located, but I have a lot of experience with building and elctrical. Joe homeowner I can see making this mistake (assumption). Whomever does the line locates should let you know they are only looking at the primary service lines, not secondary lines.

At the very worst, you can always try "witching."

[speede5]

BTW, if it makes you feel any better I cut my phone line a couple years ago digging around my foundation. I knew where it was but not the depth and managed to slice it. Luckily I know a service guy from Sasktel who provided me with an underground repair kit. We all make mistakes, just fix it and move on.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

i've been there for 5 years. how the hell am i supposed to see whats underground?

is there an electrical meter on the garage? is there a power line coming off the pole to the garage? are you refueling a generator weekly? are there solar panels? wind generators? did you develop a cold fusion system? lol

[Berger_4_]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

edit: oops I sit corrected gas lines aren't that deep.

I feel as though this is a little nugget that went unnoticed. Well played Gimp, well played.

[KevinHogan]

Hi there, I'm glad no one was hurt!
I came across this discussion and I hope you don't mind if I offer some input and information, from the perspective of an employee at Alberta One-Call Corporation.


Think of Alberta One-Call as an intermediary between you and the facility owners. We will contact the facility owners who have registered as being present on your property. We are also happy to act on your behalf as an advocate, should you encounter any difficulties with the locate process.

However, in the case of privately installed and/or privately owned lines, Alberta One-Call:
a) has no information about the presence or location of private lines
b) has no facility owner to inform, since you are the owner of your own private lines.
As a result, we cannot send a locator to locate your privately-owned lines.

Originally Posted by jeffh

Apparently Telus and/or Shaw don't participate in the service either.

Just for the sake of the information, Telus is a member of (and has lines registered with) Alberta One-Call.

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

i've been there for 5 years. how the hell am i supposed to see whats underground?

For those who suspect a private line on their property, or would just like to be extra careful, I'd recommend contacting a private utility locator to have your private lines located. You can find a private line-locator in this list http://www.alberta1call.com/docs/con...ocatorlist.pdf or perhaps through a google search. I hope that helps!

Shameless plug: Check out our facebook and twitter feeds!

[ken0042]

Kevin (I hope you have stuck around)- is there a way that somebody could register their private lines with you guys?

For example, I know exactly how my power line snakes from the house to the garage; but if I sold the house the new owner would have no way of knowing. (Other than a private locate as you mentioned.) I'm just thinking that with a name like "one call" it would be handy if that's the only call somebody has to make.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I'm just thinking that with a name like "one call" it would be handy if that's the only call somebody has to make.

this is my biggest beef, it's not a 'one call' service at all if i have to get multiple locators out to my site.

[core_upt]

To what depth should I be concerned about digging? I tore up some grass along my garage and want to bury some metal edging to contain raspberry bushes, maybe 8" deep? Worth a call?

[kevman]

Not that it helps with private lines but to give you an idea of what utilities you have on your property and where they're coming from you can download your block plan from the City of Calgary. However, you'll still need a locate since it doesn't detail specific locations.

For example, from my block plan I know that my water and sewer come from the front street, the gas from the rear, there is an "AGT" line near the rear property line and some mega huge LRT power lines at the end of the block.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Kevin (I hope you have stuck around)- is there a way that somebody could register their private lines with you guys?

For example, I know exactly how my power line snakes from the house to the garage; but if I sold the house the new owner would have no way of knowing. (Other than a private locate as you mentioned.) I'm just thinking that with a name like "one call" it would be handy if that's the only call somebody has to make.

I don't believe private citizens can register lines with AOC, but you can definitely pass on that information verbally (or via hand drawn map) to any new homeowner.

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

this is my biggest beef, it's not a 'one call' service at all if i have to get multiple locators out to my site.

I can see how the name might be a misnomer, but you have to remember they do technically cover over 900 utility operators province-wide, so it is fairly comprehensive. The locates they perform for you via those operators are free, if they included private lines as well you would be charged (and it`s fairly pricey).

Originally Posted by core_upt

To what depth should I be concerned about digging? I tore up some grass along my garage and want to bury some metal edging to contain raspberry bushes, maybe 8" deep? Worth a call?

Their website states that when any kind of ground disturbance occurs, a one call is recommended.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by core_upt

To what depth should I be concerned about digging? I tore up some grass along my garage and want to bury some metal edging to contain raspberry bushes, maybe 8" deep? Worth a call?

Have you ever had a locate done at your property before? It's pretty unlikely that you'd hit something if you're only going 8", and I presume you'd be digging by hand, so you're probably ok. Since the locate is free though, it doesn't hurt to have it done, and that way you'll at least know where the services coming into your property are for future planning.