With the spring digging season almost here, Atlantic Canada Common Ground Alliance hopes this month will serve as a reminder for residents to always secure a locate request to have underground utility lines marked prior to any digging project.
Each year, damage to buried utilities costs Canadians more than $1 billion. The ClickBeforeYouDig.com web portal connects homeowners and contractors with their local One-Call Centre, which notifies the appropriate utility companies of their intent to dig. Professional locators are then sent to the requested dig site to locate and mark underground lines with flags, spray paint or both. Striking a single line can result in repair costs, fines, inconvenient outages, cause serious injury and in rare cases, result in fatalities.
Every digging project, no matter how large or small, warrants a visit to ClickBeforeYouDig.com. Installing a fence, planting a tree and building a deck are all examples of digging projects requiring a locate request.
The depth of utility lines can vary for a number of reasons, including erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces. Utility lines need to be properly marked because the risk of striking an underground utility line exists even when digging only a few inches. Visit ClickBeforeYouDig.com or www.DigSafeCanada.ca for more information about safe digging practices.
