Damage photos

[Goldenboy]

I know this is an old one. When I get a chance I'll upload some newer ones. I just wanted to get this thread going again.

I don't think these guys were handdigging to expose the main. This was a 4 inch main.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/predrunner/HPIM0381.jpg

[yahoo]

that guy is in the hole saying.........................hey i think i see something yellow down here.......hahahhahahhahah:D:eek::D

[beyond help]

I thought it was deeper:eek:, wait, this isn't supposed to be here, my prints show it on the other side:eek:, I didn't see the marks (i had just marked it, but the damn jackass bulldozed them).

[underground quester]

A TRACKHOE. Best damned piece of locating equipment in the business! UNFORTUNATELY!!!

[Goldenboy]

Don't these water main crews every learn that finding the gas service with a four foot bucket is a bad idea.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/predrunner/cablevine/g.jpg

[GWJ_CAS]

Don't these water main crews every learn that finding the gas service with a four foot bucket is a bad idea.



I see the white stake for the proposed excavation, and the blue flag for the water service, but no yellow paint or flags for the gas service...was it marked?

[Goldenboy]

Yes it was marked. The white paint is actually circling the yellow marks for the gas and the white flag is a damage flag for reference. I also have close up pictures showing the yellow marks circled with white paint. Their ticket was about three weeks old and all the flags were pulled by the local kids. The crew said they knew it was there but were trying to undermine it with the bucket and caught it first. No potholing by these water crews out here.

It's hard to see in this picture but there is also a yellow hard mark in the sidewalk right in front of the concrete saw.

[GWJ_CAS]

Have you ever seen the Rhino "Hit Kit"?

http://www.repnetinc.com/Images/Hit_kit_diagram.jpg

All of our lead locators and supervisors have one for damage investigations. Makes a nice graphic representation of the location of the marks vs. the facility location and if the facility was marked within tolerance.

http://www.repnetinc.com/Product_Pages_Damage/product_HIT_kit.php

[GWJ_CAS]

Do you guys report damages to the Damage Investigation Reporting Tool (DIRT)?

www.cga-dirt.com (http://www.cga-dirt.com)

[yahoo]

i didn't know they had such thing as a rhino kit........we use nothing like that down this way..but just the usual stuff camera a pull string and a tape measure...

[UULC]

I have been using these hit kits for over a year. They are awesome. When you have very little paint on the ground, this helps you identify the marks. They have saved us several times. I bought these out of my pocket and only paid $100.00 for 1-red and 1-orange. I wish I would have thought of them. I will take pictures and upload them.

[Goldenboy]

I had never heard of the hit kits. I wouldn't buy them out of pocket but will pass the link on to our quality department.

I don't think we report our damages to DIRT. We might but I never heard of them but who knows maybe corporate reports them.

[sprayandpray]

Have you ever seen the Rhino "Hit Kit"?

http://www.repnetinc.com/Images/Hit_kit_diagram.jpg

All of our lead locators and supervisors have one for damage investigations. Makes a nice graphic representation of the location of the marks vs. the facility location and if the facility was marked within tolerance.

http://www.repnetinc.com/Product_Pages_Damage/product_HIT_kit.php


Sawmy 1st one this last week - don't have one though.

[LadyLeatherneck]

1. Supervisor: "Yeah, but can you prove your marks were there? At fault damage. Let's call a meeting and make you stand up in front of everyone and tell them what happened. Oh, and I'm writing you up. Next time you'll go home without pay for 3 days!"

2. Rhino Kits? We would have to pay for them ourselves - we have to buy our own maps, our own shovels. Used to be the company provided those things for the locator to do his/her job. What happened?

[GWJ_CAS]

1. Supervisor: "Yeah, but can you prove your marks were there? At fault damage. Let's call a meeting and make you stand up in front of everyone and tell them what happened. Oh, and I'm writing you up. Next time you'll go home without pay for 3 days!"

2. Rhino Kits? We would have to pay for them ourselves - we have to buy our own maps, our own shovels. Used to be the company provided those things for the locator to do his/her job. What happened?

Thankfully, we do not have to ask our locators if they can prove their marks were there...they are attached directly to the ticket in out ticket management system (viewable instantly after upload), that is if the locator took them...and our policy is that we take photos of all locates, ALL...and lots of photos. If you did not follow policy and failed to take photos you are subject to some level of disciplinary action. If that failure results in a chargeable damage, well you may be going home for a spell...

Like it or not, the litigous nature of our society dictates that policies and actions like these are necessary. We provide all the tools the locator needs to perform his job in accordance with statutes and policies. We provide the truck, the laptop, the maps, the locate instruments, the GPR systems, the cameras, the batteries, the cables, the connectors, the training, the training, the training, the re-training...We balance ticket loads and our supervisory folks have paint on their boots. Even our state manager locates when ticket loads need attention...

We pay our guys a very competitive wage and pay 100% of their medical and life insurance premiums, provide a matching Simple IRA that we contribute an amount equal to 4% of the locators salary, provide 168 hours per year of flexible paid time off and we pay real bonuses...so, if they cannot follow policy and do the job they are paid for, then there are consequences...

[LadyLeatherneck]

And you own what company? In our world that is not the case at all. I wish it were. I am not lying just to complain about our companies. I am telling the absolute truth. If the truth hurts then so be it. In your world things are good, even great. In some of ours, it's just not like that. I would love to live in your world where things operate efficiently and people do things correctly and are paid well for their efforts and enjoy team playing and are sufficiently equipped with what is needed to perform their jobs in a professional manner. But in my world that is not the case. I don't mean to complain and offend but the truth is I hope someone is listening in and can make some changes that will help us all succeed in this business. I have been in this business since 1987 and am still here. I CARE!!!!!!!! So, while it is great that you have a company that takes care of business, not all of us do. Good luck in your successes. You at least are making a portion of this industry look good.

[yahoo]

Thankfully, we do not have to ask our locators if they can prove their marks were there...they are attached directly to the ticket in out ticket management system (viewable instantly after upload), that is if the locator took them...and our policy is that we take photos of all locates, ALL...and lots of photos. If you did not follow policy and failed to take photos you are subject to some level of disciplinary action. If that failure results in a chargeable damage, well you may be going home for a spell...

Like it or not, the litigous nature of our society dictates that policies and actions like these are necessary. We provide all the tools the locator needs to perform his job in accordance with statutes and policies. We provide the truck, the laptop, the maps, the locate instruments, the GPR systems, the cameras, the batteries, the cables, the connectors, the training, the training, the training, the re-training...We balance ticket loads and our supervisory folks have paint on their boots. Even our state manager locates when ticket loads need attention...

We pay our guys a very competitive wage and pay 100% of their medical and life insurance premiums, provide a matching Simple IRA that we contribute an amount equal to 4% of the locators salary, provide 168 hours per year of flexible paid time off and we pay real bonuses...so, if they cannot follow policy and do the job they are paid for, then there are consequences...



sounds like a great company can i ask the name of your company ???pm me if necessary....one question though.....is it necessary to have those rhino kits or better will it actually save you from paying a damage claim????

[GWJ_CAS]

sounds like a great company can i ask the name of your company ???pm me if necessary....one question though.....is it necessary to have those rhino kits or better will it actually save you from paying a damage claim????

My company is CAS, check your PM's.

The Rhino Hit Kit is a real money saver. When there is a damage, we pop those babies out and take photos of the marks vs. the hit. With the nice big arrows pointing at the marks and the hit with a giant ruler showing the relation of the marks to the facility...as they say, the proof is in the pudding...

[UULC]

This is a hit kit in use. This phone locate was 11' off mark.

[Metroman]

1. Supervisor: "Yeah, but can you prove your marks were there? At fault damage. Let's call a meeting and make you stand up in front of everyone and tell them what happened. Oh, and I'm writing you up. Next time you'll go home without pay for 3 days!"

2. Rhino Kits? We would have to pay for them ourselves - we have to buy our own maps, our own shovels. Used to be the company provided those things for the locator to do his/her job. What happened?

Do you work at my company? :confused:

[LadyLeatherneck]

Do you work at my company? :confused:

Don't know who you work for!

[Goldenboy]

I guess this is considered a damage. I pulled up to a job site and found the phone ped squished. The contractor installing a new parking lot ran over the ped with one of those vibrating rollers for compacting the stone.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/predrunner/cablevine/squished.jpg

[yahoo]

:bonk::soapbox: and if i would have missed a single svc getting marked i would have got a bill from att to have it replaced...........but this above......he will get laughed at and told to try not to do it again??????

[Goldenboy]

If you're gonna hit something you might as well hit it all.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/predrunner/cablevine/damage1.jpg

[LadyLeatherneck]

I see one orange line up next to the pole and some red on the riser! "Was this marked?"LOL

[Goldenboy]

It was all marked. Typical contractor excuse. It was supposed to be deeper.

[sprayandpray]

It was all marked. Typical contractor excuse. It was supposed to be deeper.


Why do contractors always think it was deeper? Hell, they are probably putting in something shallower than the job calls for themselves!

[Mr Blunderbuss]

Anyone know why I call contractors "idiots"?

[locomike]

i should have a damage pic next week for you all i had a unlocatable fiber today that runs 2 countys i guess we will see what happens next week, and yes i did it by the book i called the tv company to let them know i left a message they know so what do i do now?

[sprayandpray]

Let the contractor and your supervisor know also, in fact if you have e-mail, that's another way to CYA.

[Dave72]

i should have a damage pic next week for you all i had a unlocatable fiber today that runs 2 countys i guess we will see what happens next week, and yes i did it by the book i called the tv company to let them know i left a message they know so what do i do now?

There's gotta be a better way for that fiber with no metal in it. I cant see "its somewhere around there" as a good way to 'locate' it. Do you demand that all work in that "around there" zone has to be daylighted with a vac truck to find the cable first ? No metal in the fots helps to prevent any lightning damage, and burying a copper tag-wire in with it sorta defeats the purpose.. If that cable is put in with a hoe etc then I guess you could surround it with lots of warning tape.. but most long lines are plowed it with a blade. Does anyone do a full GPS track of a cable install and then use GPS data to do the locate later ?

Of course, then the locator is gonna need a good GPS unit with that Differential add-on thing for accuracy.

[duke]

This one scared the crap out of me.

I've been working this bridge project for months. The crossing for the tel duct is buried DEEP and joint with the HP gas line. I've located it several times from both sides of the bridge, so I was pretty confident that I knew exactly where it was. I still laid down nice wide duct marks to cover my butt.

I just happened to be crossing the open side of the bridge when I noticed the contractor digging deep in the hole with his trackhoe. You can see that this is a pretty deep one; they're removing a dam in stages and rebuilding a new bridge over it.

So I stop by, say hello to the contractor, and then look over in horror at the exact moment that the trackhoe starts to rip duct out of the ground! The contractor and I stand there dumbfounded. I immediately go around the edge to line up my marks----at least 20 feet from where he's tearing this duct out of the ground! Work stops immediately. I watch my career flash before my eyes. That duct is only one manhole away from a CO! At least six fibers, a couple of toll cables, 1200, 1500, all almost brand new because the old stuff came out with the first phase of the bridge.

Finally, one of the engineers comes over and very casually explains that the duct contractor had initially installed this run, but it was too close to the new bridge! They made him run a new one, and he never took out his first "mistake" duct run!

Another day, another near heart attack!

[Dave72]

LOL good one Duke.

I think Id pretty much soil myself if I witnessed those ducts coming up on one of my own locates.

Thats a weird feeling eh ? I sorta had that when I was pouring my foundation walls for this house.. we had somehow forgot to shore up the middle of the sheets in one section and the walls started collapsing as we got about 3/4 filled. Visions of a huge disaster in $... and no spare lumber to throw in there. Some kind of 3rd person thing took over me and I grabbed my chainsaw to saw up my (nice) wood deck to get some lumber to toss in there just in time. It didnt collapse, but I have a foundation wall thats about 30" thick in one area (lol).

[USIC1]

This one scared the crap out of me.

I've been working this bridge project for months. The crossing for the tel duct is buried DEEP and joint with the HP gas line. I've located it several times from both sides of the bridge, so I was pretty confident that I knew exactly where it was. I still laid down nice wide duct marks to cover my butt.

I just happened to be crossing the open side of the bridge when I noticed the contractor digging deep in the hole with his trackhoe. You can see that this is a pretty deep one; they're removing a dam in stages and rebuilding a new bridge over it.

So I stop by, say hello to the contractor, and then look over in horror at the exact moment that the trackhoe starts to rip duct out of the ground! The contractor and I stand there dumbfounded. I immediately go around the edge to line up my marks----at least 20 feet from where he's tearing this duct out of the ground! Work stops immediately. I watch my career flash before my eyes. That duct is only one manhole away from a CO! At least six fibers, a couple of toll cables, 1200, 1500, all almost brand new because the old stuff came out with the first phase of the bridge.

Finally, one of the engineers comes over and very casually explains that the duct contractor had initially installed this run, but it was too close to the new bridge! They made him run a new one, and he never took out his first "mistake" duct run!

Another day, another near heart attack!


Thats why I always try to keep the "I dont give a crap its just a job" mindset...

It really is nt worth the stress for what we have to lose...We re trained to think (and worry) of what losses we could cause being so horrendous...In some cases they may be...Oh well...SCREW IT!!! When we drive down the road and some hypothetical happens we could be toast...Or kill someone else based on a domino effect...

Point is not to sweat this crap and think about what else you wish to pursue if your demise arrives creating the mother of all whacks...

JMHO-blood pressure medicine I hear has some really nasty side effects...If I can keep my attitude about this job intact I believe I can avoid that...

[locomike]

There's gotta be a better way for that fiber with no metal in it. I cant see "its somewhere around there" as a good way to 'locate' it. Do you demand that all work in that "around there" zone has to be daylighted with a vac truck to find the cable first ? No metal in the fots helps to prevent any lightning damage, and burying a copper tag-wire in with it sorta defeats the purpose.. If that cable is put in with a hoe etc then I guess you could surround it with lots of warning tape.. but most long lines are plowed it with a blade. Does anyone do a full GPS track of a cable install and then use GPS data to do the locate later ?

Of course, then the locator is gonna need a good GPS unit with that Differential add-on thing for accuracy.

dude when all we have are some old rd4000's how the h**l u expect to locate a unjacketed fiber i dont give a crap if they would have cut it or not when something is suppose to be buried and the utility company wants us to locate it what are they thinking!! the oln problem in our area is what in 1 hand crap in the other an see which hand fills up first. by the way have u ever located or just ride around in your truck all day looking up at aerial cables?

[USIC1]

dude when all we have are some old rd4000's how the h**l u expect to locate a unjacketed fiber i dont give a crap if they would have cut it or not when something is suppose to be buried and the utility company wants us to locate it what are they thinking!! the oln problem in our area is what in 1 hand crap in the other an see which hand fills up first. by the way have u ever located or just ride around in your truck all day looking up at aerial cables?

I try to do the last part...w/o passive,radio sweep, and extra high frequencys I doubt Id still be locating...

If thats what we call it...I call it a paycheck!!!

:jumpinsmile:

[Dave72]

by the way have u ever located or just ride around in your truck all day looking up at aerial cables?

Just had a good day locating today, so all is well.

Walked thru a wet ditch area for 1/8mile or so (well, i didnt know it was gonna be *That* wet.. once you get a soaker its too late.. lol), then an easy ped with drops, then 2 major manhole runs (did a new lotus position on the ladder tryin to reach the cable w/o getting wetter boots), nuther easy ped run, and finally a service wire in a yard (dang those super tight up-against the foundation drops..).

I dont mind locating, but Id rather be splicing :)