You must all do this before you dig :

[Tom_in_CA]

I was at city hall public works dept. today, handling a business issue. The brochure rack caught my eye as I was standing in line. I picked up this flyer, and realized that .... it affects all of us. So here it is for the benefit of all the fellow forumites here, front & back of the flyer. And although this is for CA and NV, trust me : Your state will have a ph. # too.

Notice that this is THE LAW. So .... you wouldn't want to violate the "law" would you ? And notice that no where on here does it say HOW deep. Just : Any digging. Tsk tsk Notice too that there's a housewife lady depicted as digging with nothing more than a garden shovel. So ya can't say that this "only applies to heavy equipment type operations, eh ?

But not to worry though, because as you can see, within 2 days, they will mark utilities so you can safely dig the "beep" you just got from your detector. And , heck, 2 days isn't too long to wait, eh ?

No, don't thank me. I'm Just doing my part to help all my fellow forumites stay safe & legal.

 

[Diga]

Tell them you need to have someone come by, because you want to plant some tulips in your backyard.

 

[Gryphon]

Only thing with that is (and i'm not saying it's bad to call for staking) that when you call they will only mark your main utilities, what i mean by that is they aren't going to mark an entire property per se, depending on the size, they won't mark rear yards (unless that is only where the major utilities are) i.e. Property owner has run his own power, gas, fibre, ect, they most likely won't mark ANY of that. I say most likely because i can only be certain about Michigan.

 

[AirmetTango]

True story -

My wife had been talking about how nice a flower bed would look on the side of our house, and at some point I agreed, and said I’d do it. I knew it would take a bit of work to do it right. The ground immediately around the house is poor quality…mostly clay spread out from when they dug out the basement, so I’d have to take up the grass and the first couple inches of “dirt” and put down some good soil, etc. Well, time passed…she kept reminding me how nice that flower bed would look, and I kept saying that once I say I’m gonna do something, there’s no need to keep asking about it every few months . Anyway, about this time last year, I finally made good on my promise one bright, shiny Saturday…sufficient quantities of good garden soil and mulch was acquired, and I even calculated the exact number of pavers needed to create a cute raised edging for the area. Digging tools (including my 31” t-handle serrated blade Sampson) were at the ready. Oh, did I mention this was the side of the house where all of the utilities enter the house? Well, my wife did…she was standing next to me as I was about to get started, and said “Isn’t there a number you’re supposed to call when you’re digging around stuff like that?”

I chuckled and said “Seriously?? I’m digging all of two inches down, maybe three maximum. No way I’m hitting anything that shallow. Besides, I know where all the lines are.” She gave me her skeptical look, then went to visit her parents and left me to my task. Well, you can already guess where this is going…not even 15 minutes later, our internet went “poof” when I sliced right through the cable with my Sampson as I cut the outline of the new bed. Never even knew it until I was pulling up sections of grass, and I saw the severed cable in the sidewall as I pulled the sod up! The dang line wasn’t even 2” deep, and obviously not where I thought it was .

Long story longer, the easy part was the call to the cable company - I actually reached their tech support that day (Saturday), and they sent someone out the next day (Sunday) to put down a temporary surface line. No charge. And believe it or not, no one, not once, said anything about how I had broken the law by not getting a utility mark out. No one threatened to call the police. Shocking!

The call to my wife on the other hand….let’s just say I won’t be living that one down any time before the sun goes supernova, and her ridicule is a far worse fate than any fictitious fine or imprisonment the PUC of Ohio could ever theoretically impose for a such a heinous “crime” as digging a 2” deep slit in my own side yard.

Epilogue: The “permanent” line was buried less than two weeks later…it’s still only about 2” down, but at least I know where it is for real now. Roughly.

 

[wolf-n-wa]

So, when I go mining, I need to call someone? Bahahahahaha! You city folk crack me up!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

True story -

........

I enjoyed your story A-T ! Ok, that only bolsters my admonition though, doesn't it ? Because now:

1) You might damage your utility lines and internet connection, as your not-having-called the # indicates.

2) You might get in trouble with the law. And might not get off as lucky as A-T did. He's lucky that he only got a warning, and didn't have his detector confiscated, and spend the night in jail with Bubba !!

3) And worst yet , YES : You can suffer the wrath of a "told you so" wife, who makes sure you eat humble pie for an entire year.

And yes : I'd rather have my detector confiscated and spend a night in jail with Bubba, than face the drama of #3.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

So, when I go mining, I need to call someone? ...

Yup. Read the flyer brochure and weep.

And if you STILL have doubt that you have to call the # each time your detector beeps (before you dig), here's how we/I can "clarify" this : Let's you and I call the #, and ask them : "Hello. When wolf-n-wa digs, does he need to call first ?" And then how much you want to make a bet that the person on the other end is going to say "yes". Heck, we can even go a step further and ask them : "Is this the law", and I bet that they say "yes".

After all, it "doesn't hurt to ask", right ? And "you can't be too safe", eh ? And are you going to argue with your duly appointed govt. agencies ? C'mon bro, make us proud !

 

[itsaring!]

In my line of work, you'd be surprised how many apprentice's I worked with that cut through "black roots". We wound up getting locates marked off so that if a line gets cut and there isn't a flag, the location company foots the bill. Not that the average curb strip hunter is going to dig that deep. But once I was working along a highway and a fellow employee on the backhoe drove up in a sweat and got off and told me to jump on the backhoe and drive around a bit. I found out why. He had cut up a fiber optics line and our company got billed $200,000. We had a couple guys pay for buried phone cable repairs so they wouldn't get fired. A couple wouldn't say anything and tape the two ends together and bury the wire back in the hole like it was going to fix itself.

 

[wolf-n-wa]

Yup. Read the flyer brochure and weep.

And if you STILL have doubt that you have to call the # each time your detector beeps (before you dig), here's how we/I can "clarify" this : Let's you and I call the #, and ask them : "Hello. When wolf-n-wa digs, does he need to call first ?" And then how much you want to make a bet that the person on the other end is going to say "yes". Heck, we can even go a step further and ask them : "Is this the law", and I bet that they say "yes".

After all, it "doesn't hurt to ask", right ? And "you can't be too safe", eh ? And are you going to argue with your duly appointed govt. agencies ? C'mon bro, make us proud !

Bro! I have mined @ Pala, ca. and Boulevard, Ca. east of San Diego in the Carrizo Gorge Wilderness for Kunzite, garnet, and tourmaline. Washington State in various locations for Gold, petrified wood, garnet, carnelian, agate, fossils, crystals, etc. Colorado for smokey quartz, calcite, barite, and amazonite. Oklahoma for selenite. Texas for fossils, and ancient pyritic Cyprus root. North Carolina for giant Garnet. The list goes on! No way in hell I'll ever call to have someone go to my honey holes. Don't hurt to ask! bahahahahahaha! Again, this is for city folk and city diggin! Aint no dam pipes 10,000 feet up the side of a mountain! Hey GOV guy, can you come check my spot that is producing gold to make sure there are no pipes in the river/creek. Naw! I'm good! Guess I'm a law breaker!

 

[Diggerjonny]

My go to answer is … Tom said it was okay. Never had an issue.

 

[KOB]

Bro! I have mined @ Pala, ca. and Boulevard, Ca. east of San Diego in the Carrizo Gorge Wilderness for Kunzite, garnet, and tourmaline. Washington State in various locations for Gold, petrified wood, garnet, carnelian, agate, fossils, crystals, etc. Colorado for smokey quartz, calcite, barite, and amazonite. Oklahoma for selenite. Texas for fossils, and ancient pyritic Cyprus root. North Carolina for giant Garnet. The list goes on! No way in hell I'll ever call to have someone go to my honey holes. Don't hurt to ask! bahahahahahaha! Again, this is for city folk and city diggin! Aint no dam pipes 10,000 feet up the side of a mountain! Hey GOV guy, can you come check my spot that is producing gold to make sure there are no pipes in the river/creek. Naw! I'm good! Guess I'm a law breaker!

Did you buy the $100 bucket at Gems of Pala ? Lol

 

[wolf-n-wa]

Did you buy the $100 bucket at Gems of Pala ? Lol

No sir! Blue Sheppard is actually a friend of mine so I go up to the mine itself and dig. I'm not one for going through others tailings piles. Unless its an old gold mine/claim.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Next time I have to dig a cat grave, I'll give them a call. They can toss the cat in for me, but first they'll have to poke a hole in the trash bag (don't ask why you have to do that).

 

[hoser]

AT I know exactly what you mean. I've never cut through a cable as I know where they are. But our cable service put new cable to our neighbors house and there are places in the yard that I see the orange color sticking OUT of the ground. I swear they laid it on top and then walked over it to push it into the ground. Code states at least 18". Someone needs take a course on reading a tape measure.

 

[Jose159]

Being a retired utility worker I can tell you that the cable companies are the absolute worst at burying their lines and often don't even respond to 1-calls. I have been called dozens of times over the years to shut off or repair natural gas plastic service lines that homeowners have nicked or cut with shovels while doing yard projects. In Pa...natural gas service lines are required to be at minimum 12 inches in soil and 18 inches under paved areas such as roads or driveways. The problem is that most utilities are bored instead of dug and buried so there is no warning tape. If your going to do any excavating in your yard it's always better to do a 1-call but for pulling plugs while detecting I think it's a common sense issue(even though it's the law)

 

[KOB]

Next time I have to dig a cat grave, I'll give them a call. They can toss the cat in for me, but first they'll have to poke a hole in the trash bag (don't ask why you have to do that).

Why do you have to poke a hole in the cat casket ?

 

[Ken Clad]

That's interesting, I've never seen that toll-free number, the only number I was aware of is 8-1-1. Here in the south, water lines are very shallow just like CATV. I have had a 811 mark out done for landscaping. I was putting in a palm tree on the side of the house where I knew lines run. I need less problems, not more.

Speaking of problems, I have a pretty good grasp on what problems look like for doing stupid stuff. I spent my life career in FD/EMS and occasionally did pickups and removals for a funeral home.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Why do you have to poke a hole in the cat casket ?

Okay, you had to ask! I usually wrap my deceased cats in a towel or blanket and then put them in a trash bag tied tight. If you don't poke a hole in the bag, the gases released during decomposition will inflate the bag and cause the ground above to rise up into a mound! Freaked me out the first time it happened. Thought I had buried a cat who wasn't dead! So now I always poke a hole in the bag to slowly release the gases.

Lately, I've been burying them in a cardboard box with no bag. Better idea, but you have to bury them much deeper or the critters will smell them and try to dig them up! Ah, the joy of cat ownership!

 

[aj0421]

Here on the east coast we don't have to dig looking for coins, especially LCs. They are like worms after a good rain storm, they just come up to the surface and show themselves.

Sorry Tom.....

 

[SeabeeRon]

Which City's Public Works Dept were you in Tom?

Just checked my old employer's Web Site and they still show 811 as the number to call. Maybe they both take you to the same place??