We will be taking calls for emergency locates only on Thursday, July 4th for Independence Day, but remember, you can file a ticket online 24/7. NOTE: Thursday will not count towards your standard 48 hour notice when filing a locate, so please plan accordingly.
Every year the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety holds an educational conference for industry professionals. This networking event is intended for pipeline operators, underground utility technicians and damage prevention specialists. During the two-and-a-half-day event, industry professionals learn about about new products, services and updated regulations. One of the more colorful aspects of this conference is the Utility Locate Rodeo.
Utility locators are a vital but often overlooked part of America’s infrastructure apparatus and the 811 process. They employ a highly-specialized skill set. Their job is difficult, dangerous, and the consequences of sloppy workmanship can be catastrophic. Without their bright paint and pin flags present at a worksite, excavators would have no way of knowing where it is safe to dig. They are essential in keeping our neighborhoods safe and the utilities that power our lives and businesses flowing uninterrupted.
Spring has officially sprung in Minnesota, and you know what that means - digging season has arrived. With increased excavation comes increased excavation-related hazards, something we at Gopher State One Call (GSOC) are keenly aware of. To help combat these hazards, every spring GSOC hosts a series of free educational meetings throughout Minnesota. They’re an important tool in keeping the excavator community of greater Minnesota informed and apprised of the newest changes to excavation law, safe digging best practices, and improved ways to file locate requests. They also allow GSOC to get some much needed face time with our valued partners in damage prevention.
Many excavators have been affected by CenturyLink Inc.’s transition to a new locating company to mark the location of CenturyLink underground facilities in Minnesota as of April 1, 2019. CenturyLink has provided Gopher State One Call with the following list of questions and answers from an excavator’s forum teleconference hosted by CenturyLink on May 6, 2019:
Private underground facilities, also called customer-owned facilities, may be found anywhere, including your excavation site. Chapter 216D requires operators of lines buried in the public right-of-way to register with Gopher State One Call (GSOC), so these lines will be marked as the result of a locate request. Privately-owned facilities, like utility lines that serve heaters for hot tubs, gas barbecues, electric security lighting, invisible dog fences, farm taps, buried sprinklers systems, and many others, are not marked when locators respond to your GSOC request, since they are the owner’s responsibility. Let's take a look at some common types of private underground facilities.
