Utility Strike

Damage to a buried utility caused by excavation. Consequences range from a nicked cable jacket to a ruptured gas main with evacuation and injuries, and liability generally follows whether the one-call ticket was filed and the marks respected.

Strikes are overwhelmingly preventable and the causes are well documented: no ticket filed, digging before every member responded, ignoring or destroying the marks, and mechanical excavation inside the tolerance zone. The category the public system cannot help with is the private one — the service lateral, the irrigation main, the abandoned run — which is why a private sweep is standard on high-consequence work. Report even minor damage, including a nicked coating, to the facility owner immediately; unreported coating damage becomes a corrosion failure later.