Page 10 - Alabama 811 Magazine 2021 Issue 3

Wallace Jones Locating Gaps
by Wallace Jones
Director, Gas Pipeline Safety Alabama Public Service Commission
The “Oxford Dictionary” defines “gap” as:
1)a break or hole in an object or between two objects
2)an unfilled space or interval; a break in continuity
3)a difference, especially an undesirable one, between two views or situations
So, what kind of “gaps” do we find in locating underground utilities that might cause problems, or more directly, that might cause damage to those same utilities. A possible first thought is that there is no one single apparatus that has been manufactured (to the best of my finite knowledge) that will locate every type of material we have buried beneath the surface of this old Earth. There are too many factors involved: type of material, depth, interference from other buried materials, soil type.
I am sure there are other factors that might also come into play, but these alone make it very difficult to design
a locating tool that could be used in every situation. I know there are new innovations with the carts that use a type of X-ray to locate, but even they have their limitations. And most of
the old systems require some sort of medium to transfer an electronic signal that can be picked up with a receiver of some type.
Looking at the first definition above (a break or hole in an object or between two objects), if there is a break in the locating medium (i.e., “tracer” wire buried to assist in locating plastic pipes for water and gas) this can cause a disruption in the ability to locate
the facility. Many times, an excavator unknowingly will damage a “tracer” wire and will backfill the hole without notifying the utility operator that repairs are needed to the wire. Then when a locate request is submitted and the locator attempts to trace the wire, the signal is lost, and the underground utility becomes “unlocatable”. This is not the fault of the locator; it is just an accident that was never reported and caused a future problem that no one could foresee. When this happens, the operator is generally notified and must expend the time, energy, and materials
8 • Alabama 811
2021, Issue 3