May is Safe-Digging Month

[jack10562 414]

Building a deck? Planting a tree? Installing a mailbox? 811 is the new number you should call before you begin any digging project.

A new, federally-mandated national "Call Before You Dig" number, 811 was created to help protect you from unintentionally hitting underground utility lines while working on digging projects. People digging often make risky assumptions about whether or not they should get their utility lines marked due to concerns about project delays, costs and previous calls about other projects. These assumptions can be life-threatening.

Every digging job requires a call – even small projects like planting trees or shrubs. If you hit an underground utility line while digging, you can harm yourself or those around you, disrupt service to an entire neighborhood and potentially be responsible for fines and repair costs.

Safe digging starts with a call to 811 – the toll-free, nationwide “Call Before You Dig” number – to identify underground facilities. May 2008 has been designated National Safe Digging Month, celebrating the one-year anniversary of the launch of the 811 information line, and seeking to raise awareness of safe digging practices across the country.
Inadvertent contact with buried gas lines, cables, or other buried utility lines can cause injury to workers and/or service disruptions to entire neighborhoods. In fact, nearly 700,000 incidents take place across the United States each year.

The 811 line takes the guess work out of groundbreaking, and the service is available to homeowners, landscapers, and professional excavators alike. An easy phone call to the 811 One Call Center initiates this quick, free service; local 811 call center personnel notify any affected utility companies, which then dispatch crews to mark any underground facilities.

Help avoid unnecessary system damage and prevent emergencies before they happen, call 811 before you dig! In New York State, it’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the law.

http://www.call811.com/about-us/default.aspx

[IzzyEng4 427]

All I can say is PLEASE PLEASE CALL BEFORE YOU DIG!!!

Back in December of 1985, the City of Derby witnessed a terrible accident when the River Restaurant on Main Street (Route 34) collapsed after a natural gas explosion, killing several people, a few of whom my family knew well. The cause of the explosion was linked to a near by construction site at the Route 8 interchange. The construction crew was digging and unknowingly struck a gas main. The natural gas leak saturated the ground and eventually collected in the basement of the old 3 story building. A spark ignited the gas and caused the explosion, leveling the building and damaging several others. If the incident occurred a few hours later, the banquet hall of the restaurant would have had many more people in the structure.

This incident was the last straw and started the Call Before You Dig program in CT.

Remember to do so!

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...753C1A960948260

[PVFD113 6]

Well said. Working for a utility company--I really appreciate it. Although overtime is nice, I still hate to see unknowing homeowners get slapped with (at times) hefty bills for repairs. Contractors digging--they know better--and well kind of deserve to pay for damages if they fail to call in for a locate ticket.

Any time you dig--even just to put in a new mailbox post--please call. You could potentially injure your self and/or others, as well as possibly upsetting your neighbors by knocking out their phone, internet, cable, etc...

Please be careful!!!

[Guest]

i can understand homeowners may not know about this 'call before you dig' and that this is 811 promotion is great for them. but it angers me when the utility companies, private contractors or even contractors sublet from the utility companies dig before knowing whats under the ground. you would think that this wold be classified as Digging 101. oh well, "stupid is as stupid does"