Safe Digging Month

As many of you know that the month of April is the traditional start-up of the annual digging season which the ABCGA declares as a Safe Digging Month.

Under both the rural and urban land of Alberta lies an extensive infrastructure of pipes and cables. Today’s society depends heavily on the safe operation of all buried facilities, which are estimated to span more than 1,500,000 km in Alberta, including 400,000 km of high pressure pipelines

Key Messages:

• Plan Ahead
• Contact Alberta One-Call at least two working days prior to any ground disturbance
• Allow time for buried facilities to be located
• Respect the locate marks
• Follow facility owner instructions to hand expose any conflicting buried facilities before using mechanical excavation equipment near them
• Report any damage caused or found to the facility owner
• DIG WITH C.A.R.E.!

Advance Notice:

In Alberta, 2 working days (Defines minimum number of days in advance of a digging project that you need to notify the one call center of your intent to dig.)

Days Valid:

14 days, or up to 30 days with owner/operator permission (Defines the maximum period of time the locate marks [paint, flags, etc.] are valid while they are maintained and clearly visible. Determined by regional legislation and best practices.)