Page 3 - Alabama 811 Magazine

from the desk of
Annette Bowman
Sometimes it is easy to put blinders on and look at a situation from a single perspective or from the direction a
person is most familiar with. Many people are surprised to know the volume of proposed excavation, including survey and design requests, that Alabama 811 processes every year.
For each locate request placed, on average there are five underground facility owners contacted: Water, Gas, Electric,
Telecommunications (including phone and cable/internet). Just looking at locate request volume for 2022, that would
calculate approximately 268,000 transmitted locate requests our member underground facility owners had to respond to
each month across the state.
It is a little bit like when I get on a flight, especially for a vacation destination, and always seem to be amazed that the flight is full and so many people
could be going to the exact same place I am at the exact same time. I think some people are surprised that there are so many other people engaging in excavation work at the exact same time they are. For the facility owners, they must work to keep up with the volume they receive to stay in compliance with state legal requirements. In the modern world of workforce challenges, this can be a large task.
This edition of the Alabama 811 magazine is taking a more in-depth look at the challenges and rewards of the locating side of the damage prevention program. Hopefully, it will help all of us in the damage prevention industry to stop, take into consideration each other’s perspective and continue to work together to make a strong damage prevention program that works for everyone.
Annette Bowman Executive Director Alabama 811
2023, Issue 2
Alabama 811
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