August 11 is almost here, and Columbia Gas hopes that the 8/11 date on the calendar will be a natural reminder for homeowners and contractors to contact 811 at least three business days before any digging project to have underground utility lines marked.
Contacting 811 by calling 811 or visiting MissUtility.net is free for homeowners, and it’s the law. Striking a single line can cause costly repairs, inconvenient outages, steep fines and even injuries. An underground utility line is damaged every few minutes because someone decided to dig without first contacting 811.
Every digging project, no matter how big or small, requires contacting 811 at least three business days before digging begins, including everything from installing a fence, putting in a new mailbox, planting a tree, or laying a patio.
When contacting 811, homeowners and contractors are connected to the Miss Utility system, which notifies the appropriate utility companies to mark the approximate location of underground utilities lines with colored flags, spray paint, or both. Each color of paint or flag indicates which type of utility is underground and where to avoid digging. The flags may be removed once the project is fully complete.
The depth of utility lines can vary for several reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces. Utility lines need to be properly marked because the risk of striking an underground utility line still exists even when digging only a few inches or digging in a previously marked location.
