April marks the start of the spring digging season. With the ground ready for planting, eager homeowners like you are gearing up to start those outdoor digging projects. Before you reach for that shovel to start digging, remember to call 811 to ensure that your buried utility lines are marked.
National Safe Digging Month was designated to remind Americans that our land is made up of a complex underground infrastructure of pipelines, wires and cables. Striking an underground utility line while digging can cause harm to you or those around you, disrupt service to an entire neighborhood, and potentially result in fines and repair costs.
A call must be placed to 811 before every digging project, from simple landscaping projects like planting trees or shrubs, to building a deck or installing a rural mailbox. Every nine minutes an underground utility line is damaged because someone decided to dig without first calling 811. Don’t become part of the statistic – make sure to call 811!
Here’s how it works:
- One free, simple phone call to 811 makes it easy for USA North 811 (Nevada's 811 call center) to notify all appropriate utility companies of your intent to dig. You may also notify USA North 811 of your digging plans online at usanorth811.org.
- Call or submit a "dig ticket" online at least two business days prior to digging to ensure enough time for utility lines to be properly marked.
- When you call 811, a representative from USA North 811 will ask for the location and description of your digging project. Or you will enter this information online if you chose to submit your dig ticket on usanorth811.org.
- USA North 811 will notify affected utility companies, who will then each send a professional locator to the proposed dig site to mark the approximate location of your lines.
- Once lines have been properly marked, roll up those sleeves and carefully dig around the marked areas.