I did some searching. It was caused by corrosion. (Basically, eating away at the steel thinning it out). Regardless of what punctures a pipeline, a source of ignition is still needed to set it off. FYI I was using the 2nd pic for reference.

 

whatever the real story is, i hope it keeps getting circulated around saying that it was from a post hole digger.
maybe it will scare people into actually calling first. we have enough problems fixing 'natural' breaks.

 

i remember a few years ago up here in mass a guy rented a small excavator and struck a gas line behind his house. BOOM. he wasnt killed but..when will people learn. its a free service for them to come out.

 

I've called the service here a couple of times. They left a few sketchy paint marks. They weren't very accurate. i didn't blow up or cut a fiber optics or anything. But the guy could have been a little more thorough.

 

a few years ago my main gas line coming into the house finally rusted thru in the street..so the gas company comes out with there maps to see how they are gonna run a new one for me...the maps i swear were from the 40s no one knew what was where

 

The purpose of locating isn't to be exact. Its supposed to give you an idea of where something important is. You are supposed to carefully hand-dig if you are 18" on either side of the mark. I dont see why it's so hard for people just to call 811 and absolve themselves of the responsibility if something does go wrong. Just seems SO easy people dont want to do it because they are impatient. I got called out 12/31/07 to check where a guy was grading for his own personal barn. He knicked the pipe with an earth mover and only damaged the coating. Had he punctured the pipe, the east coast would not have fuel for days as well as given him a $25,000/hr fine.

Telecommunication lines carry a heftier fine.

 

The only thing I've damaged was my own phone line, because I put all of the rest of the lines down myself. But when I called to have it marked, the guy Put two marks down. On at one end of my yard, and one at the other. So I decided the line must go strait between them. But no it didn't. My yard is about 3 acres. All I was saying is they could have been a little more accommodating. So I just patched it myself, all is good. I do always call when digging.

 

I agree. But my smart butt self would have cut the line intentionally and then let them come out to fix it so they can see the crappy markings.

 

Don't they bill you for that? I'm a cheap Sob, I just soldered them back together and put shrink sleeve on it.

 

i work for a city water dept. and there are some spots where we dont even have maps. old system, and the only way you know where it is, is remembering where it was hit before. contractors love it when you come up and close one eye and try to line up with a fence post or a power pole to put down your marks.

 

Called for a check once, they marked a telephone cable that supplied the mall.
So I get a hydro vac truck in and we cut trenchs with the set up. We were going to auger a footing 8 feet wide and 25 feet deep for a cell phone mono pole. We criss crossed the footing location going 14 feet deep, never did locate the cable.
At $300 bucks an hour for these trucks and almost 2.5 hours as we filled him up once, I was pissed that there was not a cable in our construction area.

 

I saw a show on History channel, where sewer line in Boston were being replaced. Some of the ones they were digging up were old hollowed out logs butted together. They had been in use over 100 years. I thought that was kinda wild.

 

As long as you do you 811, you wont be charged (Assuming your working where you said you;d be working).

Siversvt04- THAT SUCKS! I know those darn trucks are expensive. What happened? Were the marks wrong or was the cable deeper then 25'??

 

we've called 811 and they marked a tele cable just cut right across a hay field and cut the road corner by 300 yards.... never would have guessed the cable would be where it was...

missed that one, and hit one that wassn't marked... the telephone company sent a guy out to fit it, took him over an hour of crimping 1 by 1... there had to be 50 sets of wires...

ALWAYS CALL.. its free

 

Shorse- no penalty to you b/c you all made the call, correct?