Volume 26, Issue 5 View All →
Trench Rescue
APEX, NC – 6/4/2011 A worker was injured while working inside of a 20-foot deep trench box. Apparently, a boulder rolled in through one of the open ends of a trench box and slammed into the worker at about 11 a.m. The injured worker was able to move out from underneath the boulder, however, [...]
Read More →Safe Trenches
“The record of injuries and fatalities are not primarily in deep excavations or trenches, but in shallow work where the presumed protective system is some form of sloping and benching.” It is a beautiful Saturday morning. The kind of spring morning that stirs a sense of wonderment and awe at how beautiful life can [...]
Read More →Safety Briefing
Fissures cause sections of soil to collapse into a trench “in a shear.” A shear is a fracture along a soil’s surface created as a result of gravity acting parallel to that surface. Shear failure surfaces are depicted in the graphic to the right. Notice that these shear failure surfaces are extensions of fissures, otherwise [...]
Read More →Trench Rescue and Fatality
Newberry Township, PA – 12/14/2010 “This tragic incident did not have to happen. Excavating is recognized as one of the most hazardous construction operations, so it is vital that the company immediately complies with the OSHA standards that are designed to protect workers from these kinds of hazards.” — Local OSHA Director 5 Willful [...]
Read More →How Trenches Collapse
“Digging a trench, throwing in a box and assuming everything is okay, is essentially rolling the dice with regard to protecting worker life, health and well-being.” LAYERED SOIL FAILURE The above graphic illustrates two different trench collapse scenarios. The left side depicts a “strong over weak” shear failure in which the top layer will collapse [...]
Read More →Trench Rescue
OMAHA,NE – 9/16/2011 “It was a feeling I had. I texted my wife and told her, ‘If something happens, I love you.” A 41-year old plumber was trapped in a 13-foot deep trench while installing a new water line. Thirty rescue personnel worked for four hours to free Jeff S., who was buried [...]
Read More →The Forgotten
“To put it simply: The people who are working in the bottom of a trench deserve more than some top-man, supervisor, foreman, or competent person guessing at soil stability!” Several weeks ago a 58 year-old employee, husband, son, father and provider for his family perished, in an eight-foot deep by three-foot wide trench. [...]
Read More →Volume 26, Issue 4 View All →
Cause and Effect: The Grid
If existing water systems must be replaced at the rapid rate as outlined in the American Water Works Association’s Buried No Longer report, preventing damages in just “99% of all excavations” may not be good enough in the years ahead. Otherwise, digging accidents such as the one in Park Forest, IL, (featured in last [...]
Read More →Water Infrastructure Bill to Top $1 Trillion
The cost of repairing and expanding U.S. drinking water infrastructure will top $1 trillion in the next 25 years, an expense that likely will be met primarily through higher water bills and local fees, a groundbreaking study by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) shows. The report, titled “Buried No Longer: Confronting America?s Water Infrastructure [...]
Read More →Large Scale Water Pipe Replacement
“Because pipe assets last a long time, water systems that were built in the latter part of the 19th century and throughout much of the 20th century have, for the most part, never experienced the need for pipe replacement on a large scale. Delaying the investment can result in degrading water service, increasing water service disruptions, [...]
Read More →Nature’s Water Cycle
“Aging water mains are subject to more frequent breaks and other failures that can threaten public health and safety (such as compromising tap water quality and fire-fighting flows). Buried infrastructure failures also may impose significant damages (for example, through flooding and sinkholes), are costly to repair, disrupt businesses and residential communities and waste precious water [...]
Read More →Water Gathering
Fresh Water Sources Drinking water comes from two sources: surface water and groundwater. Surface water can be seen flowing, or stored by nature above ground. Ironically, ground water is best thought of as “underground water” since it is out of sight and stored by nature underground. Larger water supply systems typically use surface water pumped [...]
Read More →Water Transmission and Distribution
Water Transmission Mains Transmission mains are a water system’s largest and costliest pipes. Due to the size and design of transmission mains, they enjoy lower failure rates than pipes in the rest of the water distribution system. Gate valves—places along transmission mains where the flow of water can be stopped—are needed at a few [...]
Read More →Sanitary Sewer System Overview
Sewer Laterals and Manholes Where the water distribution system ends, the sanitary sewer system begins. Drains which carry away used drinking water are the point of origin for the sanitary sewer network. In effect, the sanitary sewer system is simply a network of pipes, manholes and pumps that function as the return system for the [...]
Read More →Large Scale Sewer Pipe Replacement
Large Scale Sewer Pipe Replacement There are approximately 600,000 miles of sanitary sewer pipes in the U.S. that transport sewage from its origin to wastewater treatment plants. When these pipes overfill or leak, bacteria, viruses and toxins can make their way into our waterways and threaten our drinking water supply. A few years ago, [...]
Read More →Volume 26, Issue 3 View All →
Survey Says…
Mike Parilac, Publisher, Underground Focus As some of you readers are aware, we mailed out surveys a couple of months ago. We sent reader surveys to ten percent of our subscription base and received nearly twenty-five percent of them back. The first two survey questions were: “How would you rate Underground Focus magazine compared to [...]
Read More →American Chopper 811 Bike: US Tour Update
“It became clear to us that the 811 Bike was going to reach a world of people who had never been touched by the message of damage prevention.” One Call Concepts Robert Olson and Jim Holzer One Call Concepts, Inc. (OCC) decided to commission the 811 Bike in mid-2011. In August, we [...]
Read More →Guidelines for Identifying Buried Utilities
“With so many variables, it is imperative that contractors know the precise location of existing utilities before digging.” Ditch Witch Successfully locating and identifying buried utilities is a process of eliminating mistakes, at least according to Matt Lumbers, Ditch Witch Electronics product manager. A thorough understanding of the survey area and the equipment’s correct [...]
Read More →Cultivating a Working Corporate Safety Culture
Trench Shoring Services Wendell Wood President, Performance Matters LLC PerformanceMattersLLC@yahoo.com “What are the obstacles to a safe work site?” This was a question I posed in a recent series of training classes on excavation safety. The training sessions took place over a period of two weeks and covered over two-hundred workers in three different [...]
Read More →RIDGID CrossChek: Pipe Inspection Made Easy
Installing new pipe using trenchless technology can be the ultimate shot in the dark. RIDGID Josh Sooy Senior Product Manager Inspection Systems and Networks, RIDGID No one is more aware of the maze of pipes and cables that exist below ground in the city and suburbs than underground contractors. Many know that [...]
Read More →The Future of Training Software, Today
“Constant improvement in oil and gas operator liaison training programs.” Celeritas Todd Smith Compliance Products and Services CeleritasWorks, LLC smith@celeritas.com This article will investigate several novel approaches that oil and gas operators should evaluate as they look to enhance the effectiveness of training and liaison programs that are conducted with official emergency [...]
Read More →Volume 26, Issue 2 View All →
American Chopper: Junior vs Senior 811 Bike
Jim Holzer, One Call Concepts (OCC) Tom Hoff, founder, President and CEO of OCC, was looking for a unique way to convey the message of damage prevention. OCC was nearing its 30th anniversary in business. “The 811 Bike really grew out of a sincere desire to give something meaningful back to the industry that has [...]
Read More →Virtual Scenario Manager
The Next Step in Emergency Responder Training and Accident Investigation Todd Smith, Celeritas During tough economic times, it is critical that energy companies get the most out of their limited training budgets. In an effort to address the cost and the quality of some types of training, Celeritas Technologies developed the Virtual Scenario Manager (or VSM). [...]
Read More →Best Practices for Damage Prevention
Vacuum Excavation and GPR Ditch Witch Owners and managers of organizations providing utility services, the contractors who construct and maintain utilities, and general and specialist contractors know that accidental utility strikes disrupt essential services, require costly and time-consuming repairs, and can cause serious injuries and death. For crew members working on the job, utility hits are [...]
Read More →The Story of Tom Dickey
Tom Dickey: Professional Contractor and Electrical Accident Survivor Shares Message on Safe Digging Courtesy of SafeElectricity.org When rushed for time, many of us have cut corners when it comes to safety—whether it be driving too fast or hurriedly trying to finish weekend chores and projects around the home. It could even involve taking a chance with electricity [...]
Read More →Maximize rewards, Minimize Costs
Maximize Rewards, Minimize Costs: Improvements in Receiving Technology Make Locating Buried Objects a Cinch By: Josh Sooy, Senior Product Manager for Inspection Systems and Networks, RIDGID In the old days, dowsers used forked divining rods to locate water and minerals underground. Today, contractors use more sophisticated equipment, but the goal remains the same: to locate [...]
Read More →Getting Ready for 2012
Wendell Wood, President, Performance Matters LLC. With blustery cold winds, the New Year arrived and snow soon followed. In my part of the world, the only excavations taking place were within factory walls and the boundaries of cities and municipalities. As temperatures dropped, burst water lines became the focus. One city supervisor of a moderately sized [...]
Read More →Image and Imaging
Mike Parilac, Publisher, Underground Focus When it comes to finding underground utility lines, there are things that work, things that are believed to work, things that are believed not to work and, of course, things that don’t work. Now, many of you are thinking, “Wait a minute, witching rods work.” Hey, that’s OK. Your belief in [...]
Read More →AX Files View All →
Power company hits 4? gas main with auger, home explodes killing resident
Lewisville, TX—1/11/13 A 4-inch gas main leaked after the local power company struck it with an auger while working to replace a pole. As gas company personnel worked to repair the leak, a home close to the damaged line exploded. Still inside, the home’s resident died following the explosion. Firefighters had been notified by the [...]
Read More →Telecom contractor hits gas line, house explodes with 81 year-old woman trapped inside
Oklahoma City, OK—1/3/13 At 3:20 pm, a telecommunications contractor stuck a 2-inch gas line and then immediately contacted the gas company. Gas company crews arrived at 4:00 pm and a nearby home exploded about an hour later. Emergency personnel were not contacted until after the explosion. A 61-year old woman was inside the home at [...]
Read More →Construction crew damages fiber optic cable, outage affects 100 customers
Plattsburgh, NY—12/7/12 A telecommunications outage—which lasted for several hours—affected service for about 100 customers. Technicians were sent out immediately to splice the 144 fibers back together. The company president shared that “Each fiber is about the width of a human hair. It’s a very precise remedial action that’s required, and it takes a highly skilled [...]
Read More →Construction crew severs fiber optic line, 911 call center affected
Hibbing, MN—12/6/12 A telecommunications crew worked quickly to repair phone and internet service after a fiber optic cable was severed by a construction crew. 911 calls were temporarily disabled and many homes affected. The communications company is currently working on a project to build a 400-mile fiber ring that will have redundant capability, lessening the [...]
Read More →Contractors damage 8? gas line, faulty marks suspected
Wilmington, NC—12/5/12 An 8-inch gas line was broken in two directions by contractors doing installation work. Faulty markings were suspected to have been the cause. Muddled traffic and a locked-down school were results. A teacher commented that gas could be seen shooting from the ground ‘like steam’ in front of the school. Students were moved [...]
Read More →Water company hits improperly marked, high-pressure gas line
Kingston, PA—12/3/12 A water company knocked a high-pressure gas line with a backhoe while repairing a water leak. A loud gushing sound and a strong scent were indicators of what had happened. The surrounding block of homes and a nearby school were quickly evacuated. Students were led by foot to a nearby supermarket. The leak [...]
Read More →Heavy equipment damages 12? gas transmission line
Fresno, CA—12/30/12 A gas leak forced evacuations and halted activity within a half-mile radius of the source. A small migrant school was closed down, as well as section of the nearby state highway. The leak was caused by a piece of heavy equipment breaking a 12-inch gas transmission line. For several hours the sound of [...]
Read More →Homeowner damages fiber optic line with post auger, affects 911 center
Northern Wyoming—12/30/12 A homeowner had been using an auger to dig holes for fence posts when he struck a fiber optic line. Several communities were impacted by the 8-hour telephone and internet outage. Nearly 100 feet of cable had to be repaired before communication capabilities were restored. 911 service was temporarily shut-down and local businesses [...]
Read More →Preview Magazine
Newsletter
Ads
