Call before you dig

[Drstrangeglove]

If you cut this cable, i am told it is $800,000 per hour till it is back in operation. This is a fiber optic cable the runs between Houston and Atlanta. It is a main east west internet cable. It took about 12 hours to repair.

A contractor my company hired cut it. They called 811 and lumen said there was no cable there. It is luman's fault since they didn't locate it. My guess is that it will lay in that yard for months. That driveway in the distance, it is about two inches deep. Such a valuable cable, such little care.

We would have made a permanent repair no matter how long it took. Given the importance,we would have laid a temporary cable and then would have started the permanent fix and respliced at midnight.

 

[Jstpssng]

Yikes! I bet that you are glad they called.

 

[Drstrangeglove]

Yikes! I bet that you are glad they called.

It would have been their problem or their insurance company. That is in every contract.

 

[BravoXray]

I have 5 fiber conduits running through my front yard, I watched them plow them in years ago. They connect a local switch to one a couple of miles away. So last spring I was going to replace my mail box post, an old uglt, rusty H beam stuck in the ground about 3 feet deep with a 4" tube post powder coated Kubota orange, and since it's been such a long time since the fiber was installed, I didn't remember just how far from the post they were. I called the phone company, they said call 811. Called 811, they said they only locate gas and electric services, call the phone company. Called the phone company back and explained what 811 said, they said the fiber wasn't theirs, call 811. Called 811 again, they came out and located my gas and electric services which are 100 feet from the mail box post. I went out and asked the 811 guy who I need to contact about the fiber, he said he didn't know.
So I pulled the H beam out with the Kubota and relocated the hole a foot farther back from the road, using a post hole digger. I didn't run into any of the fiber conduits, but I know they are there close.
I never have found out who to contact to locate those fiber runs.

 

[4570Man]

I have 5 fiber conduits running through my front yard, I watched them plow them in years ago. They connect a local switch to one a couple of miles away. So last spring I was going to replace my mail box post, an old uglt, rusty H beam stuck in the ground about 3 feet deep with a 4" tube post powder coated Kubota orange, and since it's been such a long time since the fiber was installed, I didn't remember just how far from the post they were. I called the phone company, they said call 811. Called 811, they said they only locate gas and electric services, call the phone company. Called the phone company back and explained what 811 said, they said the fiber wasn't theirs, call 811. Called 811 again, they came out and located my gas and electric services which are 100 feet from the mail box post. I went out and asked the 811 guy who I need to contact about the fiber, he said he didn't know.
So I pulled the H beam out with the Kubota and relocated the hole a foot farther back from the road, using a post hole digger. I didn't run into any of the fiber conduits, but I know they are there close.
I never have found out who to contact to locate those fiber runs.

There’s an internet line that’s ran areal across my property. It’s sagged down to about 6 ft off the ground. The internet company is useless about fixing it. I’m tempted to just drive a dump truck under it and see if I don’t get faster results.

 

[ChiefBodie]

My friend calls his middle buster / subsoiler a "non-discriminating utility line locator!"

 

[ultrarunner]

There’s an internet line that’s ran areal across my property. It’s sagged down to about 6 ft off the ground. The internet company is useless about fixing it. I’m tempted to just drive a dump truck under it and see if I don’t get faster results.

Had problem with cable for a building I managed and my tenants were not allowed to get cable unless I trenched.

The odd part is this made no sense as cable for the adjoining apartment building was stapled to my building.

I couldn’t get anyone to come out.

Somehow the cable running across my building became severed… cable company was there in under 2 hours… I busted the guys chops saying he was not allowed on my property since none of my renters could get cable…

About an hour later a regional guy appeared…

Cutting to the chase I let cable run a new cable only when cable agreed to hook up the renters in the 4 plex I managed.

Probably nothing would have happened had the neighbors cable to 12 units not been severed.

 

[Drstrangeglove]

A few years ago, we were plowing to a new tower and hit a unknown spur to the gas line. It was feeding the next county over and they paid to leave the plow in place for about a week with the gas line leaking and a team just sitting there. Don't remember it all, but I think they were looking for a certified welder. They finally found one in Texas.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

If you cut this cable, i am told it is $800,000 per hour till it is back in operation. This is a fiber optic cable the runs between Houston and Atlanta. It is a main east west internet cable. It took about 12 hours to repair.

A contractor my company hired cut it. They called 811 and lumen said there was no cable there. It is luman's fault since they didn't locate it. My guess is that it will lay in that yard for months. That driveway in the distance, it is about two inches deep. Such a valuable cable, such little care.

We would have made a permanent repair no matter how long it took. Given the importance,we would have laid a temporary cable and then would have started the permanent fix and respliced at midnight. View attachment 2984601

If I submit a locate ticket, the phone company (AT&T) will come out and locate all of their lines. There are at least 2 fiber optic cables running through my property on the highway frontage. All of the fiber cables around here are much larger than what is in your picture. They are at least 2" and are bright orange.

 

[Thomas]

Some state it's law the to call Dig Safe,doing so there no responsibility on landowner if damages result.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Back in 1968, the NJ Turnpike was building an extension that required filling in marshland along the Hackensack River. It wouldn't be permitted under today's environmental laws but back then, such laws didn't exist.

A company was hired to bring in fill by barge up the Hackensack. The barges were so heavily laden, one of them crushed an underwater transcontinental coaxial cable that transmitted coast to coast TV broadcast signals. Luckily, there were enough spare coaxial tubes in a second cable and service was restored in a few hours.

The barge company was under a time sensitive contract and ignored the warnings. Three days later, another barge crushed the second coaxial cable. Network TV was disrupted for almost a month until new submarine coaxial cables could be laid.

I don't remember the $$ figure of the lawsuit. It wasn't much compared to today's settlements but it forced the barge company into chapter 11. I was a lineman for NJ Bell at the time and my overtime paid for a brand new 1968 Chevy Corvette.

 

[dodge man]

My wife worked for the phone company and my son works there now. They deal with fiber optic all the time. That picture of the cable laying on the ground is not a major fiber optic cable, it’s much to small. That doesn’t mean it’s not some kind of important cable though.

 

[Cycledude]

Here in Wisconsin you are supposed to call diggers hotline before doing ANY digging, even in your garden !
So last summer I needed to dig up my 90 years old basement drain to replace it because it was plugged.
Your supposed to call 2 weeks prior to digging and I did, well the day before the digging was supposed to start diggers hotline folks hadn’t shown up so I called again, they said they would send someone out the next day, well the next day it was raining like crazy but there was a white pickup truck sitting at the end of my driveway for quite awhile, eventually he drives into my yard, I had put white stakes in my lawn to mark where I wanted to dig, so I go out in the rain to talk to him, says he is there to mark my telephone line, so I tell him I know where the telephone line is but it was disconnected nearly 20 years ago when I got a cellphone but go ahead a mark it if that’s what your supposed to do but I need the underground power line marked that what I called about. He tells me he is not authorized to mark power lines and I need to call the power company for that. So I start complaining that I called weeks ago to get the power line marked even though I know pretty well where it’s buried and it shouldn’t be any problem with my basement drain. So he feels sorry for me and marks the power line with some orange paint and some red flags it was exactly where i thought it was and no problem for my basement drain project. The next day another guy shows up to supposedly mark the underground power line but says I will have to pay to have it marked. Well I tell him it’s already marked, he says those red flags are for telephone line. I tell him there definitely ain’t no telephone line there and I ain’t paying him anything. So he leaves and a few days later we dig in the new basement drain, everything turned out well. That diggers hotline crap is another one of those crazy government involved messed up programs.

 

[RjCorazza]

^^^
That's certainly odd! Sounds more like the guy charging was out ripping people off.
The only marginal experience I've had with utility marking was last year getting a large gas line marked. I had a good idea where it ran, but the utility guy was wandering around marking areas that I knew were no where near the line. After chatting with him, he was looking at an entirely different area on his map because he had inverted a number in the address (10520 instead of 10502). He was pleasant enough, and got it right in the end.

 

[grsthegreat]

If I submit a locate ticket, the phone company (AT&T) will come out and locate all of their lines. There are at least 2 fiber optic cables running through my property on the highway frontage. All of the fiber cables around here are much larger than what is in your picture. They are at least 2" and are bright orange.

The plastic conduit is bright orange. The wire is black and is pulled thru the plastic conduit.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

The plastic conduit is bright orange. The wire is black and is pulled thru the plastic conduit.

I agree the orange is the conduit. Here in Louisiana, we are required to call or submit a 'locate request' online at least 3 business days before digging. Also, the utility companies pay to be a member of 'Louisiana One Call' which is the organization that handles all locate request. I get an email from them telling me what the utility companys have found and marked, or that the area is clear of their lines.
As a contractor, there is no cost to me for anything to be marked. When I was on our rural water board, we would pay our operator for each time he had to go locate our water lines.

 

[Thorpaws]

Got to throw my 2cents in been in the business for over 30 years. Cables come in lots of different colors and sizes. Installation is just about the same. As for locators different in all states they have different laws concerning them. From someone who has repaired and billed telecommunication lines I would advise anyone who is going to disturb any soil to know their states laws regarding locates at the least it could bankrupt you the most might kill you. To the OP knowing Lumen that "fix" will probably stay that way for years.

 

[orezok]

Years ago I was building a condo project. The project was near completion but one of my contractors needed to do an additional trench. Back in that day,the General Contractor arranged the location.

Gas company came out and marked “all” the underground lines. My sub proceeded to trench and hit a gas line.

Gas company comes out to repair and sez that I will be billed for repair. I pointed out that there were no markings indicating a gas line.

The gas guy goes and gets his as builts and states “there is NO GAS LINE HERE!

I said that ib that case I didn’t hit a gas line.

Never did get a bill. LOL

 

[ultrarunner]

I’ve called a few times and found responsive… the guys coming out get paid so they don’t complain.

 

[WranglerX]

If I submit a locate ticket, the phone company (AT&T) will come out and locate all of their lines. There are at least 2 fiber optic cables running through my property on the highway frontage. All of the fiber cables around here are much larger than what is in your picture. They are at least 2" and are bright orange.

That is just INNERDUCT.... Actual fiber cable is much smaller and pulled in when all the innerduct is connected to appropriate building/fixtures....