by Morinville News Staff
With warm weather hitting the province a little earlier than normal, many people may be contemplating starting their outdoor home renovations earlier.
Alberta-One-Call is reminding Albertans to let them know about project plans before digging so they can let owners know where buried water, sewer, and power lines are that they will need to avoid.
“Last year we had 450,000 notifications of planned ground disturbances,” said Mike Sullivan, President of
Alberta-One-Call. “Every time somebody contacts us by email or by phone they are potentially alerting over 850
members about your planned dig.
Albertans are becoming increasingly familiar with the service, and requests for service have quadrupled over the past 30 years.
Despite increasing use and awareness, 2015 saw 2,500 incidents in the province where utilities or gas lines were struck because the homeowner or their contractor did not notify Alberta One-Call first.
“Obviously that’s a serious safety concern depending on the magnitude of the incident,” Sullivan said, adding the average incident cost taxpayers about $20,000.
Alberta-One-Call is now telling property owners and contractors to contact them online at www.albertaonecall.com to initiate a request for service.
Great article! After notifying Alberta-One-Call FIRST (and any other nonmember owners of underground facilities that you know are in your dig area), don’t forget to also notify the provincial 2nd CALL next generation underground locating service to check for any possible locatable unregistered underground lines/hazards that could be in any dig area as well as for a double check on the locatable registered underground lines. For more information visit http://www.2ndcalllocating.com or see The Globe and Mail: When one call is not enough to find underground hazards – http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-money/when-one-call-is-not-enough-to-find-underground-hazards/article24520791/?utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=E-mail:+Newsletters+/+E-Blasts+/+etc.&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links