Call before you dig

[Dan in CT]

I used to locate and test/repair underground power cables (4kV-35kV). CBUD was called first thing. If customers were out, we would wait 2 hours for the mark out, then starting digging if no one showed up to do the mark out. One night we waited, no one showed up, then started our work. We had the cable exposed and were splicing it when the guy doing the mark up got there. He proceeded to mark the other side of the street from where we were working. I asked him what he was marking. He said "everything is on this side of the street". Just shook my head and went back to the trench.

 

[paulsharvey]

We have started doing a couple jobs with this new style conduit, with the tracer wires embedded in a bulge on the side of the pipe. Now, that seems like a good idea, IF, they connect that tracer at the tie-in points.

 

[Fixastuff]

We have started doing a couple jobs with this new style conduit, with the tracer wires embedded in a bulge on the side of the pipe. Now, that seems like a good idea, IF, they connect that tracer at the tie-in points.View attachment 3207003

It really sucks doing couplers on that pipe with tracer wire.

 

[paulsharvey]

It really sucks doing couplers on that pipe with tracer wire.

I'm assuming you skin it back to couple. Do you have to use a clamp style coupling? Then the real key, from a future locating point, getting a good connection of the wires. Haven't really messed with this except hand hole to hand hole shots so far.

Recently did a small 2" poly forcemain, guy that normally does private property work, and he was surprised that he needed tracer wire.

 

[Fixastuff]

I'm assuming you skin it back to couple. Do you have to use a clamp style coupling? Then the real key, from a future locating point, getting a good connection of the wires. Haven't really messed with this except hand hole to hand hole shots so far.

Recently did a small 2" poly forcemain, guy that normally does private property work, and he was surprised that he needed tracer wire.

Yeah. After a month I was told connecting the tracer wasn’t needed. You still had to peal it back to make the coupler work properly though.

 

[paulsharvey]

Yeah. After a month I was told connecting the tracer wasn’t needed. You still had to peal it back to make the coupler work properly though.

Ugh, that's what worries me... You could still pick it up in Power mode, or "drop box" it, but without connecting the tracer at the coupling, you would Not be able to induse a signal, and actually tone the utility out...

In layman's terms, blast signal into the ground, and pick up Everything conductive, including dead utilities, old rebar, trash, ect. It's the lazy shotgun style of locating, but yiu don't have to actually connect to everything, so is much faster

 

[paulsharvey]

In a perfect world.... you hook on to each utility individually, and push a signal through the conducter, and the locators picks up that specific frequency. Something like 8khz is better, but many guys use 65khz. The lower frequency has less bleed off to surrounding utilities/other stuff.

Power mode picks up everything conductive.

Some of the good locators, I think RD7100, have cathodic protection mode, and have a setting to just pick up the DC voltage, which is only used on steel gas lines, and a couple unique other cases (corrosion systems on bridges, steel power poles, ect)

 

[Thorpaws]

Ahh memories. This is like being at the bar talking shop with the retired ma Bell folks, good times. So many good times hard to decide what is best in telecom for me installing 1800pr pic or repairing it. Fixing wet pulp while boring was always challenging. Locating in my onion is and art I like to dig once. Technology really has made communications a interesting industry to be in. Transport is cool as it is rapidly changing but I really did enjoy good old fashion Cable Maintenance. Great satisfaction in trouble shooting and then repairing a problem. Air is still used on some copper cables there are lead sheathed cables that are over 100 years old that are still in use. Fiber while not new is exciting because of what is at each end. The amount of bandwidth being moved and processed is amazing in my onion you can send and receive data and talk to people all over the planet in milliseconds.