July 2017 Vol. 72 No. 7
General
3 Magic Numbers For Underground Construction, Maintenance
Take a moment and flip back to read the title of this magazine. It’s Underground Construction, and deals with – well, underground construction. Water, sewer, gas, telecom and electric; that pretty much covers all the bases. It also covers a lot of miles. According to the Common Ground Alliance, there are around 100 billion feet of underground utility lines buried in the United States. That equals around 19 million miles. Put in perspective, the distance from the earth to the moon is about 238,000 miles, and the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. If all of the buried utilities in the United States were laid end to end, it would take a beam of light over a minute and a half to go from one end to the other.
That’s over a football field in length of buried utilities for every man, woman and child in the nation. And every six minutes, one of those lines – possibly one of yours – is hit because someone excavated without calling 811 first. The chance of causing damage is reduced to less than one percent when a call to 811 is made prior to the dig. But not everyone around your buried lines is a model citizen.
Over 38 million people will put a shovel, backhoe, excavator, trencher, auger or other tool into the ground this year without getting buried lines located first. That’s 38 million chances for a gas explosion, a petroleum products spill, cutting off water to a hospital – it’s all happened before.
According to the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state agency charged with monitoring pipelines in that state, Texas has the largest pipeline infrastructure in the nation – more than 439,771 miles of pipeline representing about one-sixth of the total pipeline mileage of the entire United States. Texas’ pipelines are divided into the categories of natural gas and LP-gas distribution lines (more than 148,167 miles), hazardous liquid and natural gas transmission lines (more than 66,382 miles), intrastate production and gathering lines leaving lease lines (more than 175,928 miles), and interstate lines (45,173 miles).
That’s a lot of stuff in the ground. Some of it probably belongs to you.
Keeping it safe
How do you keep it all safe? A big chunk of your pipeline safety and awareness falls into your relationship with the 811 call centers that range along your right of ways. 811 is the national “call before you dig” number to get underground utilities located prior to a dig. In every state the call is free, and so is the subsequent locating of the underground facilities, shown by marking them with either multicolored flags or spray paint.
It doesn’t matter where you are when the call to 811 is made; it’s automatically sent to the nearest 811 call center. (The full list of state 811 call centers can be found at: call811.com.) As you move out of one center’s territory you enter that of another, in much the same way aircraft are passed from one air traffic control center to the next.
It wasn’t always that way, though. The 811 number has only been active for about 10 years as a national entity.
Here is part of the FCC press release of March 10, 2005 that designated 811 as the nationwide number for contractors and others to call before conducting excavation activities:
“811 is one of only eight ‘N11’ codes, five of which have been assigned for nationwide use. Those assigned are: 211 for government information and referral services; 311 for non-emergency police and government services; 511 for travel and information services; 711 for telephone relay services for the hearing impaired; and 911 for emergencies. Prior to today’s decision, the Commission had not assigned 411, 611 and 811 for nationwide use, but these numbers have been widely used by carriers for various purposes.
“This nationwide abbreviated dialing code will provide an effective replacement for an array of numbers used across the nation to connect to communication systems operated by underground utility operators, and state and local governments. One Call notification systems enable contractors to give advance notice of their plans to excavate so that utility companies can mark underground facilities prior to excavation to prevent damage to these facilities.”
The Federal Communications Commission ordered that 811 be operational two years from publication of its designation in the Federal Register, and it went live in March of 2007.
Application of 811
How does the use – or non-use –of 811 affect large interstate operations?
Laura Arellano-Briot, a regulatory compliance specialist with Denbury Resources Inc., consulted her company’s pipeline foremen, their pipeline superintendent and the supervisor of pipeline services about their experience with the 811 system. Their responses should help serve as a guideline on why using this free service is so important to the continued health of our national pipeline system.
How does the 811 system work to protect your infrastructure?
For our DOT-PHMSA regulated pipeline infrastructure, the 811 system provides essential information to our pipeline operations personnel, other operators and the contractors/excavators involved in excavation taking place near our pipeline facilities. The 811 system initiates required collaboration between the stakeholders involved, thus enhancing safety during excavation activities. The 811 system also serves as a single point of contact where information can be found about underground facilities located in specific areas within the state.
Do you do your own locates or contract out?
On our pipeline facilities, we perform our own line locates. Personnel who perform this task are operator qualified per requirements listed in 49 CFR §192 and §195. In addition, some personnel hold line locating certification, and Denbury is examining the option to send more personnel through nationwide certified line locating courses.
How many locates occur per year?
For our pipeline facilities, on average 12,500 locate tickets for approximately 1,100 miles of pipelines are received per year, which are either cleared or marked. In addition, Denbury physically monitors any excavation activity taking place within 25 feet of underground facilities until completion.
What do you estimate the 811 system has saved in cost of repair?
A lot of variables would determine the actual cost of an excavation damage repair to our pipeline facilities, such as pipeline vintage, materials, downtime, impact to business, stakeholders affected, and extent of damage to people, property and the environment. To date, Denbury has not had to make any repairs due to pipeline excavation damage, which bears testament to the 811 system.
How easy is it to work with the 811 system?
Although the 811 systems vary by state, the basics are consistent and easy to work in. It is always a bonus when helpful individuals from the state One-Call Centers assist us.
How do you promote the 811 system?
Some of the ways Denbury currently promotes the 811 system is through brochures delivered to a variety of stakeholders at specified intervals, annual face-to-face meetings with select stakeholders, 811 stickers placed on hard hats, the Denbury Public Awareness website and the Denbury Corporate Responsibility Report. Denbury is always exploring additional options.
Have you had an incident or accident in which 811 was NOT called first?
Fortunately, Denbury has never experienced a DOT-PHMSA reportable incident (gas) or accident (liquids) on a pipeline. However, there have been near misses over the years due to excavators giving wrong coordinates to the One-Call Center or not calling in a locate before digging. Part of Denbury’s due diligence when this occurs is educating the party about the 811 system and explaining the importance of providing accurate information and/or calling in a locate.
Other issues
Of course, interstate pipeline operators also contend with topography issues peculiar to the region they are transporting through. TransCanada, for instance, has lines crossing through heavy working forests in Texas with active timber harvesting. TransCanada works with the Texas Forestry Association to remind loggers to call 811 before crossing a pipeline right of way. Heavily loaded logging trucks can crush, crimp, compress and otherwise play havoc with buried pipelines.
“TransCanada is one of many companies that operates high-pressure oil pipelines through Texas’ timber forests,” said Tim Fehr, community relations specialist for TransCanada Keystone Pipelines, L.P. “We would like to be contacted at least 48 hours in advance, either directly or by calling 811. This is so we can determine a safe crossing. We do not want to slow down loggers’ work progress, but want to keep them safe, along with the public, landowner’s property and the integrity of our pipeline.”
811 call centers also do work on their own to make sure their members are as protected as possible. Texas is home to Texas811 (texas811.org), a 30-plus-year-old non-profit call center that is also the largest single center by volume in the nation, handling close to 3 million incoming locate request calls in 2016.
A major activity of Texas811 in educating the public is the Damage Prevention Councils of Texas (dpcoftexas.com). Over 20 of these councils cover Texas, along with five Damage Prevention Managers, each responsible for a block of councils. Each council meets monthly with stakeholders, excavators and others with an interest in protecting underground assets.
“We work closely with the pipeline companies to ensure that their assets are protected from harm,” said Jim Bob Sims, Texas811’s director of damage prevention. “We encourage stakeholders and excavators to attend free meetings of our Damage Prevention Councils that are held throughout the state on a very regular basis, to learn more about what 811 does and how we work with them.”
Additionally, in partnership with Enertech, the Damage Prevention Councils host Safety Days across the state in which attendees can see for themselves what happens when a buried gas line is hit. Called Mock Line Strikes/Pipeline Response, (diggingtexas811.com) these scenarios include local first responders illustrating through live action (an air pressurized mock gas line) what happens when the unthinkable occurs.
“Striking a natural gas line is not something anyone wants to take lightly,” said Mark Allen, Enertech president. “Should it happen, you literally have only seconds to make decisions that could save your life. As partners in safety, pipeline companies value the unique skills and expertise of the emergency responders. Working through this scenario, we all gain hands-on experience and learn from each other in the process.”
But the key, of course, is never being faced with an emergency – because someone didn’t make the free call to 811.
Comments