Damage photos

**Dave72** · August 23rd, 2008, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by 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?

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** · October 5th, 2008, 07:13 PM

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** · October 5th, 2008, 10:17 PM

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** · October 5th, 2008, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by 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!

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** · October 6th, 2008, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by Dave72

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** · October 6th, 2008, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by locomike

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!!!

**Dave72** · October 6th, 2008, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by locomike

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

RigidFreakTech · February 12th, 2009, 08:07 AM

Bad ideas

**ifinditunderground** · February 12th, 2009, 09:09 AM

Ridgid, it's best if you get into your control panel and put him on your ignore list, that is what the rest of us have done, and I think we can all agree we are much happier for it.

RigidFreakTech · February 12th, 2009, 09:27 AM

LOL Thanks for the heads up man....

**scap** · February 12th, 2009, 10:41 AM

About 2-3 months ago I had a local electric crew call in a 3000ft locate that shot under I-12 @ Essen Lane, I had everything marked including the duct all the way down and left that locate feeling confident that nothing would get roasted...Then the very next day I'm in the truck and I get the call. They roasted a 144ct Cox Fiber, but I wasn't liable. Cox put it in less than 48hours before that and it wasn't on my cable prints...

So, I clamped onto what they smoked, attempted to locate it out...it wouldn't locate for anything...didn't have a sheath of any kind on it whatsoever, no tracer ran with it either. I used an RD4000 for the locate.

RigidFreakTech · February 12th, 2009, 12:31 PM

Was the Fiber buried in conduit or direct? We always have the option of fish taping an untoneable fiber but if it is direct, we are screwed as there is no way to locate it. In order for an electromagnetic field to be created, it needs a few things. I know this is no news to you veterans but you need a complete circuit to locate a utility. A complete circuit for us is built of a transmitter (signal source), a conductive target (pipe, cable sheath, etc.), a targets far end ground or capacitance and the ground path return. With a non-conductive target, our signal never obtains continuity because it stops at the source or transmitter.

Scap, I am positive what you posted was not a question but I sometimes get ahead of myself and feel the need to try and explain things to people who don't need explaining. Sorry, lol.