Subscriber Comments for
Digging and Trenching Safety

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 316032	2012-09-04 03:11 PM
This has the earmarks of another silly law. Certainly I don't want to break into a gas line. However I don't think it should be necessary to get government permission to plant a tree in my yard. The stated rules are so broad that I am violating the law by planting petunias. This is exactly why I lose respect for government.
COMMENT 316035	2012-09-04 03:15 PM
Amen to that 032, but I'll save my piece for another day, another thread - DigAlert's actually a pretty cool, FREE tool, everyone wins.
COMMENT 316104	2012-09-04 05:19 PM
You don't need gov. permission to plant a tree, but as utilities are supposed to be at least 18" deep (but often are not) this PSA could save someones life or at least a lot of hassles. If you have dig 18" to plant your petunias I'm guessing you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer and as it is clearly stated the service is free.
COMMENT 316116	2012-09-04 05:42 PM
This will also save you having to pay for any utilities lines you hit.
COMMENT 316124	2012-09-04 06:06 PM
Tyranny at its worst. As Thomas Jefferson once said: "The tree of liberty is watered with broken water mains."
COMMENT 316146P	2012-09-04 06:50 PM
Leave it to the Fire Dept to put out a ridiculous public service announcement. Please go save lives and get cats out of trees, maybe put out a fire every now and then. Before you dig yourself into a bigger hole here.
COMMENT 316148	2012-09-04 06:54 PM
Damage the west coast fiber optic line with your project and the fine is over $1,000,000 per minute!!! Most contractors carry 1-12 minutes insurance at that rate.
COMMENT 316345	2012-09-05 10:03 AM
Really?? A million bucks a minute?
COMMENT 316415	2012-09-05 12:36 PM
If you break a line of any sort digging on your own, you will be held responsible for repair and other reasonable costs. But if DigAlert was called in and you folowed their guideance and broke a line anyway (e.g. the cable company burried a line in the wrong place - don't laugh, I've seen it happen) you are off the hook, plus you avoid the fun and excitment of breaking into a water main, a sewer branch connection, or God forbid, a gas main. For anything other than shallow hand-tool digging, use the free service. Not worth blowing up the neighbor hood, even one time in a few million tries for the sake of avoiding a single toll-free phone call (or making a political statement).
JUKINJAY	2012-09-08 07:12 PM
The west coast fiber optic line isn't going to be anywhere near your backyard unless you live on the railroad tracks. This is another one of those things with good intent that becomes absurd when taken literally. It makes good sense for contractors using a backhoe on public streets or even laying a foundation on private land. If you're using hand tools in your back yard, common sense should prevail. If a utility line is so fragile that a shovel will break it, then it so will gophers. This is so common with some of the buried telephone "drop" wire used in the 1970s that it's called "gopher wire" by those in the industry, and continues to be problem. They've made it less tasty to gophers since. Utility lines are also petty deep, at least a couple of feet. Petunias aren't likely to be an issue. I would think the dig alert people would get pretty annoyed after a while if you notified them every other week about your flower bed.

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