Aug. 11 Serves As Reminder For Ind. Residents To Contact 811 Before Digging
Posted
Staff Report-
MERRILLVILLE – August 11 is Tuesday, and NIPSCO hopes that the 8/11 date on the calendar will serve as a natural reminder for residents to call 811 or visit 811now.com at least two business days prior to any digging project to have underground utility lines marked.
With more people at home during pandemic restrictions, and summer a peak time to work on home improvement projects, it’s essential that residents remember to dig safely, according to a news release from NIPSCO.
In 2019, through the first seven months of the year, NIPSCO experienced 102 gas line damages by homeowners caused from the failure to contact 811 prior to digging. For this same time period in 2020, homeowner damages have already totaled 163; nearly a 40% increase. The number of homeowner damages began to rise in March and peaked in June. And of those, notably, 45% were the result of homeowners completing fence installations and landscaping projects.
When calling 811, homeowners and contractors are connected to Indiana 811, the local one call center, which notifies the appropriate utility companies of their intent to dig.
Requests can also be conveniently made online at 811now.com. Professional locators then arrive at the digging site to mark the approximate locations of underground lines with flags, spray paint or both. Requests should be made at least two business days prior to digging, and this service is provided free of charge.
Every few minutes, an underground utility line is damaged because someone decided to dig without first contacting 811.
Striking a single line can cause injury, repair costs, inconvenient outages and fines. With more people staying home these days and relying on their utilities to work and communicate, inconvenient outages are important to avoid.
Every digging project, no matter how big or small, warrants contacting 811 by phone or online.
