Underground Construction - December 2022 - 22

DIRTREPORT
Latest DIRT Report Indicates Utility
Damage Maintains Incident Levels
Jeff Griffi n | Senior Editor
While ongoing programs
are in place to reduce accidental
damage to buried
utility infrastructure, damages
continue to happen,
usually during construction or repair work, when interrupting
service, and sometimes posing the risk of injury and death.
These damages are estimated to cost $30 billion each
year. Much is caused by not taking the simple step of calling
811 to request locating and marking of buried facilities
before beginning construction that involves excavation or
directional drilling.
Th at's the conclusion documented in the latest Common
Ground Alliance (CGA) Damage Information Report Tool
(DIRT) report.
CGA is a non-profi t organization that leads eff orts to reduce
accidental damage. Th e annual DIRT report is based on
information about accidents to infrastructure belonging to industry
stakeholder members of CGA. Th e latest DIRT report
is based on 2021 data.
Th e report says, in part: " No notifi cation made to an 811
center remains the top root cause, with over a quarter of all
damages still att ributed to no notifi cation.
" CGA excavation research tells us that professional excavator
awareness of 811 is very high, yet in one year, 60 percent
of all damages due to no notifi cation can be att ributed to professional
excavators. It is important to note that 36 percent of
those professional excavators failing to contact 811 were likely
working on projects associated with utilities (natural gas, electric,
telecommunications) and/or municipalities (water, sewer,
road, sides, etc.). "
Sarah Magruder Lyle, CGA president and CEO, said the
same issues are driving the vast majority of damages every year.
" We must focus on addressing this handful of recurring
damage root causes to reverse the stagnant rate of damages to
buried utilities, " she continued. " Th e report found that damag22
DECEMBER 2022 | UCONonline.com
es occur most oſt en when utility work is being performed on
water facilities, by sewer and then telecommunications.
" An analysis of the most frequently damaged facility types -
natural gas and telecommunications - shows that telecom infrastructure
is being damaged by facility owners themselves or their
subcontractors about twice as oſt en as natural gas facilities. "
Lyle said CGA's three-year trend analysis indicates that
damages to buried facilities have plateaued or slightly increased.
" Data from 811 One Call Centers, " she said, " shows us that
system volume was up 8 percent in 2021, and construction activity
resulting from the implementation of the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act is likely to further stress an already
overloaded damage-prevention system. "
CGA's analysis of 2021 data suggests ongoing challenges in
the damage prevention process, such as including no notifi cation
to the 811 centers, failure to pothole and/or maintain suffi
cient clearance, facilities not marked or marked inaccurately
due to locator error, and other improper excavation practices.
Th ese challenges are consistently responsible for more than
76 percent of damages; addressing them would signifi cantly reduce
instances of damages and near misses.
Th e 2021 report recommends that stakeholders tailor damage
prevention eff orts and investments to the specifi c leading
root causes, to most eff ectively lower damages and improve the
damage prevention process.
Additional recommendations from the report include
strengthening engagement with public works stakeholders,
expanding damage prevention outreach to address increasing
construction activity, and enhancing excavator education
around consistent and effi cient use of 811, as well as safe excavation
within the tolerance zone.
" Th e report's recommendations, " Lyle said, " emphasize tailoring
outreach and educational eff orts toward the most consistent
damage drivers - failure to notify 811, failure to maintain
clearance or to pothole, and locating errors - in order to have
the greatest and most immediate impact on damage prevention.
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Underground Construction - December 2022

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