Appalachian Power encourages people to make a free call at least two days before work starts to know what’s hidden underground
 
Charleston, W. Va., August 9, 2010 – With August 11 almost here Appalachian Power hopes this date on the calendar, 8/11, will serve as a reminder prior to any digging project for residents to call 811 to have underground utility lines marked. This comes on the heels of a recent report by national safety organization Common Ground Alliance which determined nationwide an underground utility line is damaged by digging projects once every three minutes.

By calling 811 homeowners and contractors are connected to a nearby one-call center, which then notifies the appropriate utility companies of the callers’ intent to dig. Professional locators are sent to the requested digging site to mark the approximate locations of underground cables and pipe with flags, spray paint or both.

Striking a single underground power line can cause severe injury, unnecessary repair costs, fines and inconvenient outages for others. Every digging project, no matter how large or small, warrants a call to 811. Installing a mailbox, building a deck, planting a tree and laying a patio are all examples of digging projects that need a call to 811 before starting.

“On August 11 and throughout the year we remind homeowners and professional contractors alike to call 811 before digging to eliminate the risk of striking an underground utility line,” said Philip A. Wright, Appalachian Power vice president – distribution operations. “Failure to call before digging results in more than 60,000 unintentional hits annually and we do not want anyone’s project to become part of the statistic.”  

The depth of utility lines can vary for a number of reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces. Utility lines need to be properly marked because even when digging only a few inches, the risk of striking an underground utility line still exists.
 
Appalachian Power offers a free informational video on the 811 process.
To view or order a copy of the video, follow this link: https://www.appalachianpower.com/safety/CallBeforeYouDig.aspx
For more information about 811 and safe digging practices you can also visit www.call811.com

Appalachian Power has almost 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, which delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.