Preserving Utility Markings (Break-out Session on April 20, 2010)

Commission Rules require excavators to reasonably protect and preserve utility marks on an excavation site. Some excavations require removal of areas where those same marks are placed. This session discussed the reasonable steps an excavator may take to ensure utility marks are preserved. Additionally, during this session GPS and SUE surveys were discussed as an alternate means to preserve utility markings and whether Virginia law should be amended to include these methods.


Issues:
• Excavators use Global Positioning Systems to re-identify underground utility location marks after they have been eradicated due to construction activities.

• How can excavators preserve the utility location marks when it is known they will be removed due to construction activity?
     - When pavement or other hard surfaces that have been painted with underground utility location marks are removed, the excavator must call for a remark ticket and wait the required waiting period.

Solutions:
• Due to the current accuracy and cost of GPS technology, it is not reasonable to have an excavator collect coordinates of utility markings and use the coordinates when the actual markings are destroyed. In time, when GPS is accurate and more readily available, we may be able to incorporate this practice into Virginia’s damage prevention program, pending certain responsibilities and liabilities are agreed to.

• For the purpose of preserving the marks in areas that will be destroyed by construction activities, excavators are encouraged to add additional marking instructions on their Miss Utility ticket, requesting off-set marks, stakes, flags or whiskers.

• A new type of ticket (“Meet to Mark”) is needed to help excavators and locators coordinate a time to have an area that was previously marked, remarked when the hard surface is removed for construction activity. Staff will coordinate with the session panel members to draft language for a new ticket to be presented to the Advisory Committee later this summer. Note: This new ticket type will require a legislative change prior to implementation.