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Are design engineers being ignored by the one call system?
Many firms across the state engaged in design work will be quick to tell you the one call process isn’t working for them. Dennis Carrigan, a Principal with G. E. Walker and Associates in Waco, felt so strongly about the issue that he wrote a letter to Lee Marrs, President of Texas811.
His letter stated, “Recently, it has become our experience that utility locating companies are not willing to locate important utilities during the surveying phase. Instead, the companies prefer to wait until the construction staking phase of the project to locate the underground utilities. If a narrow interpretation of the legislation that created ‘one call’ is ‘only for imminent construction,’ then it would be difficult for me to believe that was the intent. The result of this interpretation is the creation of another ‘layer’ of locators to serve the design and surveying industry. Locating utilities during the surveying phase of a design project is of utmost importance when deciding where to place infrastructure, building, etc. Please contact me at your convenience to discuss these concerns. We look forward to speaking with you.”
His letter echoes the feelings of many across the country. As the result of the letter, Lee Marrs requested a committee be convened of all stakeholders to address these and other issues identified by the design community. This past August, more than 30 stakeholders met in the offices of Texas811 for the first of a series of meetings to determine how best to address this important issue.
The dialogue was open and as you might imagine there were almost as many perspectives as there were attendees. One of the results of the meeting was to develop a pilot project utilizing some of the engineering/surveying groups represented at the meeting.
The pilot project would require that the engineer identify the request as a true design project and that it would then be followed up by the call center and Texas811 personnel in the event that the design locate request was not properly responded to by the utilities or their representatives.
The hope was that “if we can make the system work in a specific area to be measured, then we can take the same principles of success to the other parts of the state.”
This pilot project will have its challenges to be sure. When something doesn’t work the way it should, and it won’t; it will require that all stakeholders involved communicate with one another.
Lee Marrs said, “We look forward to working with the design community on this complex and important issue. Texas811 will utilize our resources to assist the engineering groups, utilities owner/operators, and our contract locating friends to arrive at an acceptable solution. Dennis [Carrigan] is exactly right when he talks about the importance of locates during the design phase. It not only promotes damage prevention, but also provides for a more cost effective project.”
He continued, “I appreciate the letter and the opportunity to work with Dennis and those who share the same frustrations he outlined. Coming together to discuss the issue and having the opportunity to hear the different perspectives has been a great start. Now we’ll have to carry our good intentions out to the work sites and be willing to go the extra mile and especially during the pilot projects we’ll be following.”
It is hard to determine the difficulties that are ahead, but the future looks bright for any challenge when people are willing to work together. We’ll report on the pilot projects in future issues.
