Page 10 - Tennessee 811 Magazine 2020 Issue 1

CONTINUED FROM PAEE 5 ‘ H ‘ I ‘ ‘
may lie stepping out into the street to marlr a utility If it is I e ' "‘” ‘ I
a heavily ti-avelled road, the locator may need to rely on the 4
timing oltralee lights to gain access to the roadways to mark V _ . =
lines that are crossing the intersection. Unfnrlunately for the
locators. it is not always possible to jusl close the roadway .
down to complete their locate. Locating in intersections can ._— _ . p .
be a very time consuming and dangerous job fn1'd locator. ‘ "T - p: _
The same variables that may cause issues in locating a —— ~ —
line at the previous single address ticlret are in play for
this intersection ticlret. Bleed olt. grounding issues. and —« —
other variables need to he talren into consideration when
completing any locate. Depending on how many utilities are
being marked, how heavily travelled the road is and how
many t‘liF[erent access points need to be used to complete the
locate, this locate could talre a considerable amount or time.
sometimes more than an hour. This is something to keep in
mind remembering what the locators woi-lrload loolred like at
the beginning of the day.
Uh oh: what just popped up on the locator's computer? lt's an
emergency ticlret. in Tennessee, the locator has two hours to
respond to an immediate emergency ticlret lrom the time the
ticlret was received by the one—cal1 center. The locator now _ V
has to malte a decision. no l have time to complete the rest ol the 1e-enter rnust new P“‘ the C-n'ent tteket on hold unttl the
this lengthy locate and still have time to travel to the location emerzenty rs taken care of and the loeatnr ran get hark tn the
DI the emergency and complete that locate, or do i need to srte they were already workmg nu-
paek up my things and return to this hteete after We handled Fasl lorward through the emergency ticlret, everything went
the emergency? Lets_ say the locator decrees they went he smoothly, and the locator was able to complete the locate on
ahle tn mmplete the-r wtrent htfate tiutdtly fen-Nah tn 5"“ time. Now getting liaclt in their truck the locator has to malte
have the e-nergenty handled tn ttnte That hetnz the teen another decision. Do l return to the locate l jusl came fmm
when the emergency came in. or do i reroute myselt lrom
where i am now and catch the rest of that locate on my way
baclr by later? in this scenario. the locator determines that he
has some smaller ticlrets close by to the emergency that he can
. go complete and reroutes his worlrload.
Would you spend a nickel Th 1 I I . H. I ‘ 1. d t.
e as s ep in comp e ing any oca e reques is ocumen mg
to talk to an excavator? the work tlnal you performed and sending a positive
nntificaticm baclr to the one—ca11 center allowing the caller to
83_5% 0, 811 Magazine seethe st_atus ottheirticlret as well as how it was closed out.
This can include malring drawings, talring pictures and placing
79353” 3'9 notes on the ticlret. The locator has a large responsibility
excavators and _: V on each and eveiyticlret they complete and must have good
you can mm,‘ & at 2?. . documentation showing what work was pei-termed and how
mm M S, j “x t the utilities were marlred when they leave the yobsite.
lflt than § S‘ If you're lollowing along, we've had a very husy day and we've
. maul ~ .. g only managed to complete one ticlret. we ve thi-own a number
' ‘A t ol variables into our scenario to illustrate the challenges
t \\ _ “it: 3;,“ locators must overcome on a daily basis. and this is not an
i . " ‘ 5 ll,‘ unrealistic example. Now consider that everything we've
Q A ' “SUI managed to overcome in this eirample is repeated I0. 20. oi- so
. tr — )4\\ . ,' .2 Q . 1 times every day as the locator worlrs to complete 2:3 locates
‘_ _aT§\\ N.” per hour,
l apgeh. ' \\ 4; _ ‘T: utility locators. thanlr you for what you do each and every
' t - . __ /’ i day to lreep our contractors. homeowners and communities
' ‘ sale while pi-otecting the vital assets that most people never
, even see in their daily lite. Your dedication and commitment
501 -472-O1 1 5 to damage prevention is an imponant part of the sale digging
sales@311magazines.com process.
want to recognize a utility locator fur their hard wnrk? Email
}kaub4I@1ennex:2e8u.com and they may lie teatured in the neirt
edition of “Locator spotlight." .
s . iennesseeate 2020, issue 1