Before You Grab The Shovel – Grab Your Telephone
May 1, 2007 – 20:27 pm
Spring is a time for all of us homeowners to get off our butts and get busy fixing up around the house. This usually include things like sealing the driveway and the deck but it can also involve yard work. Is it time to plant a new tree, dig up a new flower bed or expand the deck? Well before you pull out the shovel, pull out your telephone and call Miss Utility. Miss Utility of Virginia, \helps protect underground utility lines from accidental damage and they have just rollout of a new three-digit phone number. Now you can contact Miss Utility to make sure all of the underground utility lines are marked by dialing 811.
Of course, you can continue to use the existing Virginia Miss Utility number, (800) 552-7001, which was established in 1976.
Miss Utility is on the job 24 hours a day to take reports from contractors, utility companies and homeowners about upcoming construction jobs and other ventures likely to disturb the earth. Miss Utility relays project details to the affected utilities and their marking contractors, who lay down colorful stripes at the surface locations of buried pipes, wires and cables at the job site.
Don’t forget to call even if you are only putting up a new real estate sign or a dog fence. This way you can avoid nipping a gas conduit or jarring loose a water main, or perhaps cutting into an electric line which will result in the shock of your life. The marking service, which is paid for by utilities, is free to the caller.
The Virginia State Corporation Commission investigates about 2,250 reports of underground utility damage in the state each year. Some of these actions result in civil fines. Of all reported incidents of damage to natural gas lines in Virginia, only 13 percent have ever been traced to failure to contact Miss Utility. The national average is 50 percent.
Stay alive – just dial 811 for Miss Utility – before you dig!