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Call Before You Dig The safest and only legal way to dig is to know what’s below ground before your shovel or equipment moves any dirt. Even small projects like planting a shrub require you to make advance arrangements to learn what’s buried below before you turn the earth.
In 2007, a national three-digit number – 811 – went into effect to make the call simple to remember. The 811 number is active throughout most of the United States. However, if you find it doesn’t work in your community, simply use the traditional 800 number used in your state to arrange for locates.
When you call 811 (or your area’s 800 number), you contact the “one-call center,” which arranges, at no cost to you, for utilities like us to locate and mark our buried utilities in your dig area. We will come out and locate gas and electric lines that belong to us. We do not, however, locate lines that a customer owns such as a gas or electric line the customer installed, such as to heat a pool or garage, or fuel a barbeque grill.
After you make the call:
- Mark the area where you’ll dig with white paint or flags
- Wait your state’s required time (normally up to three days) before digging to allow time for all utilities to locate their buried lines
- Respect the marks such as colored flags, paint or stakes that indicate where lines are buried
- Then dig with care and by hand is preferred, but never closer to the mark than allowed by your state.
For more information in your state about locating underground lines, visit these links:
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