Inaugural report reviews damage prevention technology
Common Ground Alliance, an organization dedicated to promoting effective damage prevention for underground infrastructure, has developed a reference document to assist stakeholders in accessing current and emerging safe digging technologies.
“Technology Advancements & Gaps in Underground Safety,” released at CGA’s recent Excavation Safety Conference & Expo in Phoenix, details the state of technologies available to the damage prevention industry.
CGA’s Technology Committee, tasked with driving the industry to develop and utilize technologies that will decrease the probability or consequences of excavation damages, surveyed the organization’s membership for the report.
“This report is meant to be a snapshot in time—a record of the technologies in use and under development for a specific year. The report’s vision is to become a record of progress and source of inspiration for new applications of existing technologies and the development of new technologies,” the study’s introduction stated.
The report provides an overview of current damage prevention technologies, including locating, excavating, one call, imaging, pipeline data acquisition, data management and visualization, GIS/GPS and mapping, predictive analytics and risk assessment, mobile data collection, training and education, and public awareness.
The Technology Committee also included case studies in the report, with the goal of providing information about technologies that are in different stages of development and that have good potential for making a positive change in damage prevention.
One such case study involves the Gas Technology Institute and Pacific Gas and Electric Company working together through a grant from the California Energy Commission to further the implementation of a cloud-based platform designed to reduce or eliminate damage to the gas system from excavation activity.
Southern California Gas Company’s long-term program to address the presence of cross bores in southern California is also featured. The utility’s Sewer Lateral Inspection Program has been proactively inspecting all sewer laterals within its 20,000-mile service territory, locating and removing cross bores.
“Stakeholders in every facet of damage prevention can reference this new report to assess existing technologies that they may be able to apply to their particular segment of the safe digging process,” said Sarah K. Magruder Lyle, president and CEO of CGA. “The report provides technology developers with an opportunity to examine areas where there are market opportunities for new solutions, and we hope they’ll work toward developing partnerships and advanced technologies that the industry is asking for.”