Many people think that underground pipes and cables are only found under towns and cities. But crucial networks are also laid under many rural properties.

Underground cables link hospitals, the 000 number, schools, homes and businesses. A cut to a pipe or cable can even be life threatening. Cable cuts have sometimes forced the Police and Fire Brigades to rely on backup communication networks.

For someone on a remote property, a cut cable can be fatal.

Dial Before You Dig Chairman Roger Frith says “Cables and pipes can be anywhere. They can be at any depth, on public or private property. They can be located both inside and outside easements. This means that unsuspecting diggers can very quickly cut essential services to entire regions. Cutting corners is too risky when Dial Before You Dig can potentially put you in touch with hundreds of network owners.”

How do you Dial Before You Dig?

There are three ways to contact Dial Before You Dig. Visit: <www.dialbeforeyoudig.com.au>, phone 1100 between 8am and 5pm on weekdays, or fax 1300 652 077.

The new Dial Before You Dig website allows you to view your worksite online for the first time ever. And you will usually receive information from the underground asset owners within two clear working days.

Roger Frith says “We have designed the system so that there are four easy steps. Firstly you go to the website at www.dialbeforeyoudig.com.au. Click on the State where you are working, and follow the prompts.”

“Dial Before You Dig on the Internet lets switched-on people use the latest techniques – such as GPS co-ordinates – to locate your work sites exactly,” says Mr Frith.

If you contact Dial Before You Dig on 1100, an operator will take your contact details and confirm the location of the work site.

Whether you contact Dial Before You Dig by phone or over the Internet, a Confirmation Sheet will come by fax or e-mail once the job has been processed. The Confirmation Sheet has your details and those of the work location.

The Confirmation Sheet will also list the member companies that may have underground networks around the work site. These companies will send you information in the following days, usually in the form of plans.

Depending on the type of networks in the area, some companies may phone, fax or post you with information on your responsibilities. Please follow all instructions carefully. Member companies will also let you know if a check of their records shows no networks near your work site.

If you need more help or information, you can contact the member company directly, using the phone number provided on the Confirmation Sheet you originally received.

The assistance you can expect to receive usually depends on the importance of the networks under your property.

If you have major networks that service your region or State, member companies will often provide free on-site advice and help.

But whatever pipes and cables you have on your property, network owners will do their best to help you to locate them. They will also work with you to find a solution if the location of their network impedes the work you want to do.

You can find out what the network owner can do for you by calling them directly on the number that appears on the Confirmation Sheet you received from Dial Before You Dig.

All network owners strongly encourage you to contact Dial Before You Dig as early as possible so there is plenty of time to get the information to you.

What causes damage in rural areas?

Changes in land use put many underground networks at risk. A common example is where a property owner, who has run sheep and grown wheat for many years, decides to plant vines or olives in order to cash in on a market opportunity.

The new crop means ripping deeper than previously, damaging pipes and cables under the property.

“If you negligently damage underground pipes or cables the costs can be very high. Commercial damages from businesses unable to function have been known to run into millions of dollars”, says Mr Frith.

“Not so long ago, only a few companies provided services to rural communities. Contacting these companies was easy because everyone knew who they were and where they were located. More recently, though, many new companies have been formed to supply rural Australia’s energy and communication needs. These new companies offer competitive products to rural communities, often for the first time.”

According to Mr Frith, the strength of a service like Dial Before You Dig is that it can put a rural landowner in touch with network operators you may never have heard of.

“All you need to do is contact Dial Before You Dig and give us your location. Our system then determines which member companies may have networks where you are working,” says Mr Frith.

Companies like Telstra, Alinta, Origin, Optus, AGL and Nextgen have major networks under rural properties.

Examples of damage on rural properties

Case 1

A property owner hired a company to do some deep ripping. The owner knew that a major communications cable crossed the paddock and also knew the approximate location.

Neither the property owner nor the excavator called Dial Before You Dig. The property owner also assumed the cable would be deeper than it was. The cable was cut, isolating many regional communities and a regional hospital.

Lesson: The farmer knew the cable was there but did not mention it to the contractor. He also assumed the cable was deeper than it was. Neither party ordered plans through Dial Before You Dig. The assumptions both people make all too often cause damage.

Case 2

Local utility staff visited a work site and advised the property owner to dig at least three metres from the line of a cable as indicated by marker posts. The owner dug the lead-in trench according to these instructions. When the trench was completed close to the target building, the property owner took advantage of the work to dig a new trench from a close-by water bore head to join the lead-in trench.

This new trench crossed the line of a major communications cable at ninety degrees. The backhoe bucket severed the optical fibre cable.

Lesson: When undertaking work additional to the original scope, you must check again with asset owners to ensure that no other pipes or cables are in the area.

Case 3

A Patrol Foreman working for a gas pipeline company came across a work crew installing cables through a rural property. The work crew did not know that they were about to drill through a major natural gas line. No one had contacted Dial Before You Dig. The Patrol Foreman asked the work crew why they had not noticed the warning sign nearby. One of the work crew had hung a jacket on the sign and hidden it!

Lesson: Many major networks are located in remote locations. Any excavator who does not make the call to 1100 is digging blind - this one nearly hit a high-pressure gas main. If the crew had hit the main, they would have been in great danger from the force of gas escaping. Work would also have stopped for days and the cost of the lost gas would have run into thousands of dollars.

Case 4

A farmer hammered a star picket into the middle of a paddock on his rural property. The picket went straight through an optical fibre cable. The farmer did not have plans through Dial Before You Dig, and had not realised the danger. A rural community was put off the air.

Lesson: The farmer had not realised the danger to underground networks. There are dozens of these incidents every month across Australia. Optical fibre cables carry much more traffic than copper cables, and are much more fragile. You are also very difficult to trace. The only way to be sure you are not in danger of cutting optical fibre lines is to order plans through Dial Before You Dig and locate the cables carefully by potholing.

Case 5

A Contract Principal won a tender to install fencing on a new highway. The network owner advised the Principal to have your sub-contractor contact the locater before they began work. The sub-contractor started digging before the locater reached the site and damaged optical fibre cables.

Lesson: Never start digging until you have located all underground assets. This may mean contacting the network owner for help. You may have to pothole carefully by hand using a crowbar or shovel to find the networks marked on plans.

Source: Farm Business Magazine - www.farmbusiness.com.au