February 27, 2008

Technology

GPS-enabled phones help make ‘call before you dig’ easier

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

A Virginia-based pilot project using GPS-enabled phones could provide a snapshot of how how Ontario excavators can dig more efficiently and safely.

The project was highlighted at the recent Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORGCA) symposium as a possible way new technology, linked with a one-call location finder system, could help contractors before they dig.

“For Ontario, it is not that far-off of a possibility, the technology is available today,” says Frank Zechner, Executive Director of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association.

Excavators at a Fairfax County, Virginia site are using their GPS (Global Positioning System) enabled phones to walk the entire perimeter of proposed excavation areas.

After the outline of the area is complete, a file of the demarcated perimeter is sent to a one-call centre.

“Once the file gets to the one-call centre, it processed and sent back with a detailed snapshot of where all the utilities are. The picture is sent back to a laptop or via fax,” explains Zechner.

The project is gathering a lot of positive feedback and its organizers are “quite optimistic” they can get funding to conduct a pilot-project state-wide in Virginia, says Zechner.

Using technology to capture such information instantly is a great advancement but Ontario still needs the one-call centre component to make it possible, adds Zechner.

The ORGCA is currently driving the concept of a one-call centre in Ontario so all utility location information for an area can be found with one simple phone call. In the United States a contractor dials 811 and they are patched to the regional one-call centre in their area. That contractor is then supplied with whatever information they need before breaking ground on their project. Currently in Ontario a contractor can make up to 13 calls, says Zechner.

“By dialing only three digits, nationwide, a contractor gets all the information they need 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” says Zechner. “Here, we have to a find a 10-digit number up to 13 times over, usually during regular business hours, to get information.”

The Greater Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association publishes a booklet yearly with a list of numbers contractors can call in certain areas to help them get location information, notes Zechner.

The ORGCA says reducing the risk of striking underground utilities can be achieved by having locates information, using best practice guidelines developed by the ORGCA for work around locates and understanding the specific guidelines for digging over electricity and gas lines.

The ORGCA has 158 best practice guidelines to help contractors.

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