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APWA color-coded paint and flags on the ground so the crew about to dig can see what is under them.
In Des Moines, Washington — population 31,221, with buried infrastructure laid down over decades and recorded unevenly — line marking is how a site gets read before anyone breaks ground. Local construction work drives most of the demand.
Line marking is the deliverable most excavation crews actually need: the traced position of each line put on the surface in the APWA uniform color code, with flags where paint will not hold and a field sketch carrying measured offsets to permanent features so the marks can be re-established after rain or traffic. It covers private lines past the meter, re-marks on long-running projects, and white lining — outlining the proposed dig area in white before the one-call ticket goes in, which narrows what the member utilities have to sweep and gets cleaner marks back.
Project-planning data for Des Moines, WA — soil, climate, and regulatory factors that shape how locating crews scope work in this market.
Des Moines sits in a temperate climate, with winter ground freeze reaching 18 inches — frost changes what ground penetrating radar returns, and it stops paint from bonding, so cold-season work leans on recorded offsets and coordinates. Local ground: Clay, Loam, Sandy loam. Soil conductivity is the variable that decides how much of a locate radar can contribute, because conductive ground absorbs the radar pulse instead of reflecting it. Primary industries — construction — drive steady demand for line marking across the King County area.
Washington 811 (811) requires 2 business days of advance notice before any excavation in Washington. That notification is free and it is separate from line marking: it brings out the member facility owners to mark the lines they own, and stops at the meter or the right-of-way. Wait for every member to respond before ground is opened.
Locating is quoted per job rather than off a rate card, because the work is a search and a search scales with the site rather than with the clock. On a Des Moines job, the things that move the number are how much ground has to be covered, how many targets are in play, whether there are meters, valves, risers, or panels a transmitter can be clipped to, what the lines are made of, what the local ground (clay, loam, sandy loam) does to the instruments, and whether you need surface marks or a record you keep.
Describe the job once through Utility Hotline. Our team reviews the request, then locating companies covering Des Moines and King County send you their own quotes, so you are comparing them against the same scope. It is free to request.
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Get Free QuotesCommon questions about private utility locating in Des Moines
Finding and marking the buried lines on the owner side of the meter, the ones a one-call ticket does not cover.
Turning a field locate into a permanent CAD, GIS, or coordinate record that outlives the paint.
ASCE 38 quality-level deliverables — records research, field designation, and test-hole verification, sealed by an engineer.
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Washington 811 — Always call 811 before excavation.
