| Reading article |
Making The Call For Safe Digging Projects |
Whether you're planting shrubs or adding a new swimming pool, it's important to know that being aware of the location of your yard's underground utility lines can help keep you safe.
Now a new national Call Before You Dig phone number can help. Homeowners and professional excavators can call the number-811-to have underground utility lines quickly marked for free. To use the ser-vice, just call 811 a few days before beginning a digging project. Then an area One Call center will notify crews that will mark the approximate location of underground utilities.
The number was launched by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA). According to the group's research, homeowners often make risky assumptions about whether or not they should get their utility lines marked, but every digging job requires a call, even small projects such as planting trees and shrubs.
"Knowing the approximate location of where underground lines are buried before each digging project helps protect you from injury, expense and penalties," said CGA president Bob Kipp. "Damages to underground utility lines can disrupt service to an entire neighborhood, harm diggers and potentially result in fines and repair costs."
In a recent national survey, roughly half of American homeowners said they have completed or are planning a major digging project at home, yet only a third have called or planned to call ahead to get their underground utility lines marked.
This failure to call before digging results in nearly 700,000 underground utility damages each year-causing injuries, damage to the environment or utility outages. That's more than one unintentional hit each minute.
"Make no mistake, smart digging means calling 811 before each job," continued Kipp. "Know what's below-always call before you dig."
By: Stacey Moore
For more information, visit www.call811.com. Know What's Below-Homeowners can call 811 to have underground utility lines clearly marked before a digging project is started.
Article source http://w4rum.com/1412.t
|
|
| [By Kimber Fulcher] [04/Apr/07] |
