PMissouri One Call System, Inc.
824 Weathered Rock Rd.
Jefferson City, MO 65101
www.mo1call.com
Bill Dexheimer
Field Manager
bdex@socket.net
Planning and Design
in Damage Prevention
Reasons to prevent damage
Prevention of damage to buried
utilities is important for several
reasons:
Safety
Safety is the number reason for preventing damage
to buried utilities.
Some of the utilities that are buried in the state
could, if damaged, pose an immediate threat to the
health and safety of excavators and the public.
Pipelines
Gas lines
Electric lines
911 communication lines
Financial
The cost to repair and restore damaged utilities
can be very high, depending on the type of the
facility and the severity of the damage.
The environmental impact can be devastating in
some cases.
Court costs and legal fees can be extremely
expensive in the event of litigation.
Financial
(continued)
Insurance premiums and deductibles can
increase dramatically as a result of damages.
Availability of insurance could be jeopardized as
a result of damages.
Fines and penalties could be levied for
violations to Missouri law, OSHA, DNR, and EPA
regulations, and local code and ordinance
requirements.
Financial
(continued)
Expenses can be incurred from loss of
productivity as a result of down time while
utilities are being repaired.
Public Welfare
Damage to buried utilities effects the
communities that those utilities serve. These
communities consisting of our families, friends,
neighbors, and local businesses can be
negatively impacted.
At the least, they can be inconvenienced, and in
a worst case scenario they could be
catastrophically impacted.
• Even if utilities aren’t damaged during
construction, unexpected conflicts with buried
utilities can result in significant financial impacts:
•
•
•
•
Relocation of existing utility
Redesign of the project
Loss of time
Delay of the project
Missouri Law
Revised statute of Missouri Chapter 319
requires every person excavating in the state of
Missouri to make notice at least two but not
more than ten working in advance of the
excavation.
However
Waiting until construction is about to begin to
obtain information about existing buried utilities
ignores a critical opportunity to identify
potential utility conflicts.
FAILING TO PLAN CAN IN FACT BE A PLAN TO
FAIL.
Planning and Design
The first step in utility conflict avoidance is
the consideration of existing utilities in the
PLANNING and DESIGN phase of any
project involving excavation.
Avoiding conflicts with buried utilities is a
shared responsibility.
If a possible utility conflict is
recognized in this phase, viable
alternatives can be found to resolve
the issue and almost always at a lower
cost.
Knowledge is power, and in damage
prevention, Information is protection.
Public Welfare
The responsibility of every professional should
be a consideration for the public welfare in all
aspects of their work.
Most would agree that utilities are critical to the
public welfare. It follows then that protection of
the utilities should be one of the highest
priorities on any project being planned and
constructed.
ASCE CANONS OF ETHICS
CANON 1
Engineers shall hold paramount the safety,
health, and welfare of the public and shall strive
to comply with the principles of sustainable
development in the performance of their
professional duties.
Cannon 1
Continued
a. Engineers shall recognize that the lives,
safety, health and welfare of the general public
are dependent upon engineering judgments,
decisions, and practices incorporated into
structures, machines, products, processes and
devices.
Cannon 1
Continued
b. Engineers shall approve or seal only those
design documents, reviewed or prepared by
them, which are determined to be safe for
public health and welfare in conformity with
accepted engineering standards.
Cannon 1
continued
c. Engineers whose professional judgment is
overruled under circumstances where the safety,
health and welfare of the public are
endangered, or the principles of sustainable
development ignored, shall inform their clients
or employers of the possible consequences.
An All Too Frequent Scenario
The project owner does not consider existing
utilities when planning a project.
Or if considered:
The main concern is the issue of liability instead
of damage prevention.
Project Owner
• The Owner of the project may ,in the scope of
work, assign responsibility to the Design
engineer for acquiring and mapping utility
information.
Design engineer
The design engineer could do one of two things:
1. Ignore the utilities and put a disclaimer on
the design to shift the responsibility to the
excavator.
2. Compile utility information from various
sources and correlate this data with the site
survey for the project.
Design Engineer
(continued)
Being aware of the possibility of the acquired data
being incomplete, the Designer would place a
disclaimer on the plans and again shift the
responsibility to the excavator.
(example)
“Utility information has been obtained from
available records. The actual locations may differ.
Contractor to verify all utility locations. Any utilities
damaged shall be the responsibility of the
contractor”.
Contractor
The contractor who bids the project based on
the depicted utility information, would likely
have a contingency built into the construction
bid to account for the informational
uncertainty surrounding underground utilities
and the likelihood that claims, and extended
schedules, would have to be developed and
negotiated for delays and costs associated with
unknown or differing site conditions.
Project Owner impacted
Depending on the wording of any contingency
language in the contract, the project owner
could be saddled with additional costs of
construction downtime, schedule delays,
redesign and utility relocation; and in a worstcase scenario, utility damage, service outages,
consequential damages, injury to workers or the
public and possible litigation.
Although in this scenario attempts are made to
avoid liability or shift responsibility, the reality is
that unforeseen conflicts can and have resulted
in issues affecting all parties involved.
The proper approach
The owner of the project should
assume the initial role of responsibility
in ensuring every possible
consideration is being given to the
protection of subsurface utilities.
.
As a function of that role:
All RFPs and RFQs for engineering and design
should include a requirement for the gathering
and depiction of existing utility data
information on all plans for bidding and
construction.
The preferable and most comprehensive level
of requirement would be ASCE C/I 38-02 as
the standard to employ
The ASCE C-I 38-02, Standard Guidelines
for the Collection and Depiction of Existing
Subsurface Utility Data was adopted by the
ASCE in 2002.
“This National Consensus Standard (NCS) follows
the legal procedures for adoption as not only an
ASCE standard, but also as an American National
Standard Institute (ANSI) standard.
“The
Justice system holds these
standards in high regard, and
courts and lawyers use these
standards to assist in both defining
a professional's standard of care
and in adjudication of blame”.
(NHWA document)
What is ASCE 38-02
“The intent of this standard is to present
a system of classifying the quality of
existing subsurface utility data. Such a
classification will allow the project owner,
engineer, and constructor to develop
strategies to reduce risk, or at minimum, to
allocate risk due to existing subsurface
utilities in a defined manner”.
(NHWA document)
Supporters of 38-02
The NTSB, AGC, ASCE, FHWA, NUCA, AASHTO,
NCHRP, APWA and other organizations are firmly
behind this standard development and
implementation.
The Common Ground Alliance also stresses the
importance of providing this level of information
on designs and plans.
The Common Ground Alliance (CGA) was established as a
result of a U.S. Department of Transportation sponsored
study of best practices for Damage Prevention.
CGA promotes damage prevention as a
SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
The CGA promotes several best practices involving
Planning and Design.
CGA Best Practices
Practice 2-1
Plats prepared for the development of real
property should identify and show the
alignment of any existing buried facilities and
the presence and extent of any existing
easements and or rights of way.
CGA Best Practices
Practice 2-2
Designers should use all reasonable means of
obtaining information about underground
facilities in the area of the planned excavation.
CGA Best Practices
2-3
Designers should indicate existing underground
facilities on drawings during planning and
design.
2-14
Advocates the proper application of Subsurface
Utility Engineering(SUE) practices as a means of
providing significant cost and damageavoidance benefits.
APWA Guidance Position Statement
“The APWA believes that the public interest is
best served when governmental agencies follow
the guidelines for subsurface utility
engineering(SUE) described in the ASCE
Standard Guideline for the Collection and
Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data
(ASCE 38-02).”
(APWA Guidance Position Statement)
SUE
• The ASCE standard defines SUE as a branch of
engineering practice that involves managing certain
risks associated with:
• utility mapping at appropriate quality levels,
• utility coordination,
• utility relocation design and coordination,
• utility condition assessment,
• communication of utility data to concerned parties,
• utility relocation cost estimates,
• implementation of utility accommodation policies, and
• utility design.
These activities, combined with traditional
records research and site surveys, and utilizing
new technologies such as surface geophysical
methods and non-destructive vacuum
excavation, provide "quality levels" of
information.
Quality levels of SUE
There are four recognized quality
levels of underground utility
information ranging from Quality Level
(QL) D (the lowest level) to Quality
Level A (the highest level).
Quality Level D
• Quality Level D. QL-D is the most basic level of
information for utility locations. It comes
solely from existing utility records or verbal
recollections, both typically unreliable
sources. It may provide an overall "feel" for
the congestion of utilities, but is often highly
limited in terms of comprehensiveness and
accuracy. QL-D is useful primarily for project
planning and route selection activities
“Quality Level D”
The least reliable utility data
• Plotted on plans from records.
• Sometimes a field visit - to look for
utility indications on the site - is made.
• Sometimes “verbal recollections” are
plotted.
This level of effort
is great for Project
Planning purposes,
utility “inventories,”
and very preliminary
utility relocation cost
estimates
Preliminary Design
Missouri One Call System provides for a
preliminary design request to be used to
acquire contact information for buried utility
owners in the area of the project.
A list of the names of the utilities with contact
numbers will be emailed to the planner as a
result of this request.
Quality Level C
Quality Level C. QL-C is probably the most
commonly used level of information. It involves
surveying visible utility facilities (e.g., manholes,
valve boxes, etc.) and correlating this information
with existing utility records (QL-D information).
When using this information, it is not unusual to
find that many underground utilities have been
either omitted or erroneously plotted. Its
usefulness, therefore, is primarily on rural projects
where utilities are not prevalent, or are not too
expensive to repair or relocate.
“Quality Level C”
The “traditional” utility depiction
• Surface Appurtenances are surveyed
and accurately plotted on a current site
plan
• Utility data from records (QL D) are
correlated to the appurtenances
Problems with records
interpretations still
exist: e.g. schematics,
no appurtenances
depicted, utilities not
straight between
appurtenances, no
records exist, and so on.
Quality Level B
Quality Level B. QL-B involves the application of
appropriate surface geophysical methods to
determine the existence and approximate
horizontal position of virtually all utilities within
the project limits. This activity is called
"designating". The information obtained in this
manner is surveyed to project control. It
addresses problems caused by inaccurate utility
records, abandoned or unrecorded facilities, and
lost references.
The proper selection and application of surface
geophysical techniques for achieving QL-B data is
critical. Information provided by QL-B can enable
the accomplishment of preliminary engineering
goals. Decisions regarding location of storm
drainage systems, footers, foundations and other
design features can be made to successfully avoid
conflicts with existing utilities. Slight adjustments in
design can produce substantial cost savings by
eliminating utility relocations.
“Quality Level B”
A significant upgrade in quality
• Surface Geophysical Methods used to
search for and trace existing utilities.
• Designated utilities are then surveyed
and plotted on site plan.
Non-recorded utilities
found. Utilities’ routes
between appurtenances
are imaged.
Typically used in early
preliminary design for
construction footprint
decisions.
Possible changes to
ASCE 38-02
Change Details
Explicit Change to QLD
Source Information
“One-Call markings
(These marks are placed by
others. The engineer has no
control over these marks or
knowledge of their integrity.
These marks can be recognized
only as a source of nonqualified information. Survey
of these marks leads only to
QLD information, not QLB
information)”
Change Details
Explicit Change to QLD
Source Information
“One-Call markings
(These marks are placed by
others. The engineer has no
control over these marks or
knowledge of their integrity.
These marks can be recognized
only as a source of nonqualified information. Survey
of these marks leads only to
QLD information, not QLB
information)”
Reason
Perhaps the largest mis-use of
ASCE 38 has been the
survey of one-call marks
and subsequent depiction
of them as QLB. The new
addition will specifically say
this is not a procedure that
leads to QLB data. In some
cases it may not even lead
to QLD.
Missouri One Call System provides a design
request ticket that allows for requesting the
marking of the approximate location of buried
utilities at the project site.
The approximate location is defined as “a strip
of land not wider than the width of the
underground facility plus two feet on either side
thereof”.
Marking
Missouri One Call is promoting the use of the
Missouri Common Ground Marking Guidelines.
Following these guidelines will allow for the
communication of vital information about the
buried facility. This information will give a more
accurate picture for design decisions.
Missouri Statute
• 319.027. 1. Any person may make design
requests by contacting the notification
center. Such design requests shall include all
information deemed necessary by the
notification center to complete the notice,
including the identification of the person and
a description of the location of the project
being designed and other information similar
to that required of excavators under section
319.026.
• 2. Design requests shall be made to the
notification center at least five working days, but
not more than ten working days, before the date
the person has requested receiving the
information from the underground facility
owner. Upon receipt of a design request, the
notification center shall inform the person of the
name of all notification center participants to
whom the notice will be transmitted and shall
promptly transmit such notice to the appropriate
underground facility owners.
• 3. Every underground facility owner who receives a design
request shall mark the location of the facility, or contact
the person making the request, within five working days
after the date the notice was received from the
notification center. If the person making the request was
contacted as an alternative to marking location, the person
and the underground facility owner shall mutually agree on
a schedule and method for providing the information [.]
provided that the facility shall be marked within five
working days if the facility owner and the excavator
making the request are unable to agree.
• (bold type is an addition in proposed legislative changes)
• 4. No excavation may be commenced based upon
information received through a design request.
Obtaining information through a design request
shall not excuse any person commencing an
excavation from making notice and obtaining
information under sections 319.025 and 319.026
concerning the possible location of any
underground facilities which may be affected.
•
Design ticket
If stakes or pins are being driven, this
constitutes excavation and requires an
excavation notification instead of a design
request.
Requests can be made by calling :
1-800-DIG RITE or 811
or
By internet at mo1call.com using our ITIC
program
The login page has been simplified and includes an option to request a live
chat, with an ITIC representative, if you have a question or require help to get
logged in.
Once logged in, navigation aids in the header and footer provide a consistent
look and make help easy to acquire.
The first page of the locate request form auto-fills with your information and
is available for edit if any information is incorrect.
The excavation information page is blank and can be filled out easily using
drop down menus and ‘match-as-you-type’ entry.
Work profiles are also available. These profiles can be set up to auto-fill the
excavation information. Multiple profiles may be configured and managed by
the user.
The map is integrated into the page and displays search results as you enter
information.
The ITIC 2.0 map has three default views which can be selected by clicking on
the preferred view at the top right of the map. This is the OCC map view.
This is the Satellite view.
And this is the Google street view.
After completing the ticket, the start date and time are set with an easy to
use drop down for time and a clickable calendar for dates. Only the
appropriate dates are available for selection.
A ticket that is mapped by a user will then display the list of utilities, and any
other configurable information.
Any completed ticket results in a copy being sent back to the user along with
information appropriate to the ticket. A link is included allowing the user to
view the complete ticket and map.
No Response
If a facility owner fails to respond to a request for a
locate, a “No-Response” request should be made to
Missouri One Call.
The utility must respond within two hours by
contacting the excavator or marking.
If the notice is received before 2 p.m., the facility must
be MARKED by the end of that day. If received after 2
p.m., it must be Marked by 10 a.m. the next working
day.
It is important that the utility that has not responded
be specified.
After obtaining this information, the engineer
can develop a conflict matrix to determine if
additional information is needed.
If the matrix indicates that potential conflicts
exist, then more detailed information can be
obtained for those specific locations.
This next step is level A in ASCE 38-02.
Quality level A
Quality Level A. QL-A, also known as "locating",
is the highest level of accuracy presently
available and involves the full use of the
subsurface utility engineering services. It
provides information for the precise plan and
profile mapping of underground utilities
through the nondestructive exposure of
underground utilities, and also provides the
type, size, condition, material and other
characteristics of underground features.
“Quality Level A”
A guarantee in 3-D
Typically used in final
design stages. Allows
small adjustments in
design for big savings in
construction
• Utilities exposed via non-destructive
air-vacuum means
• Exposed utilities are then surveyed and
plotted on site plan Elevations, Size,
Condition, Materials, Precise
Horizontal Positions are measured and
documented
The highest level of accuracy and
comprehensiveness is generally not
needed at every point along a utility's path,
only where conflicts with design features
are most likely to occur. Hence, lesser
levels of information may be appropriate at
points where fewer conflicts or no conflicts
are expected.
The project owner will specify to the
engineer the desired quality level of utility
data.
The engineer will furnish the desired
utility quality level to the owner in
accordance with the standard of care.
. On many small projects, where few subsurface
utilities are present, and/or where information
about subsurface utilities is believed to be
generally accurate and comprehensive, this will
only involve making a conscious decision to
proceed with the project using readily available
information.
On larger projects, where information about
subsurface utilities is not believed to be
generally accurate and comprehensive, this may
involve employing the services of a Subsurface
Utility Engineer (SUE) to provide expert advice
and to use available technologies to provide
better information.
Depiction
Once collected the utility data should be
depicted on all plans for bidding in accordance
with ASCE 38-02 guidelines.
Cost savings
• A study sponsored by the FHWA and conducted
by Purdue University found that USD$4.62 was
saved on overall project costs for every dollar
spent on SUE. This figure was quantified by a
study of 71 projects that had a combined
construction value in excess of $1 billion.
• Qualitative savings were not measurable, but it
was clear that those savings were also significant
and may have been many times more valuable
than the quantifiable savings.
A 2005 University of Toronto study of nine
infrastructure projects found the Return-onInvestment for SUE is approximately $3.41 for
each $1 spent.
PennDOT in a study of 10 highway projects
identified a savings of $22.21 for every $1.00
spent on SUE.
The 10 projects had a total project cost in excess
of $120 million.
Studies also suggest that SUE services typically
range from 0.5% to 1% of the
Design/Construction budget.
One study estimates a 10-15% total project cost
savings by improving the data quality level to A
or B from C or D. (Stevens, R.E. (1993). Society of
American Value Engineers, General Percentages
of Cost Savings)
The costs of obtaining SUE quality
level A and/or B were less than 0.6% of
the total cost and this resulted in a
cost savings of 15% over traditional
quality levels.
The study showed that SUE benefits
are high even if the total project cost is
low.
The benefit-cost of SUE increases as
the utility complexity level of the
project increases.
Providing this information on plans does not
relieve the excavator of the responsibility of
making a locate request but it does add another
layer of protection that has too often not been
utilized.
Everyone wins when utility conflicts are avoided
Project owner
Provides detail for making informed decisions.
More accurate bids from constructors
Reduces risk
Saves money
Demonstrates professionalism
Enhances public image
Engineer/Designer
Provides information to assist in designing the right
project the first time.
Reduces the need for change orders and redesigns.
Provides opportunities for communication,
cooperation, and coordination instead of conflict.
Enhances image because it is the professional and
ethical thing to do.
(Having your name identified with a noteworthy
incident can negate a years worth of marketing).
Constructor
1.Provides detail for appropriate bidding.
2. Helps eliminate delays and lost time
expenses.
3. Enhances safety.
Utilities
Provides advance information on upcoming
projects.
Eliminates extra locates by potential contract
bidders.
Reduces damages thereby:
a. Reducing service outages.
b. Preserving the integrity of the existing facility.
c. Reducing interruptions of scheduled work.
Helps eliminate emergency relocations of facilities.
General Public
1. Avoid interruptions of service.
2. Provides an additional layer of protection
from possible catastrophic utility damages.
Collecting and depicting quality utility data
should not be viewed as an additional expense,
but should be seen as an investment in the
safety and welfare of all concerned and the
overall success of the project.
It is the professional, ethical, economical, and
safe approach for designers to take on projects
involving excavation.
Additional thoughts
Consideration should also be given to identifying
private facilities.
A note reminding the excavator to contact Missouri
One Call before excavating should be placed on all final
plans involving excavation.
If you are designing the placement of a buried utility,
make provision for it to be locatable in the future.
Future programs
Missouri One Call is working to enhance
damage prevention through improved electronic
information exchange programs.
One program will allow the designer to provide
an electronic copy of their planned project to
utilities through the Call Center.
Another program will allow designers to provide
virtual WHITE LINING of the design.
Missouri One Call
Website
For information relating to Design requests, visit
our website, mo1call.com and click on the
Design Ticket tab on the home page.
Missouri One Call is working on a resource
library that will provide contact information for
various service providers. (SUE providers,
Vacuum excavators, etc.)
Missouri One Call provides free promotional
materials which can be ordered via the website.
•
QUESTIONS?