# Call before you dig! **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [July 22, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199 "2010-07-22T13:15:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jam](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jam/32/7235_2.png) [@Jam](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/1 "2010-07-22T13:15:08Z")
saw this on another forum, dont know how much truth there is to it but the pics are crazy… [quote=“HMT-Admin”"] There is a law in the USA (and Canada) requiring that you call for underground utility locations before you do any excavation. The pictures below are a result of a farmer using a post hole digger without calling for “locates” and he hit an underground, high-pressure cross country gas pipe. Had to be one of those gas powered augers, either free-standing or on a tractor. Supposedly there was no trace of the farmer or his equipment… It also took out 2 homes… Take a look for yourself… Thanks to [GTcars](http://www.gtcars.ca) for the pics [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/2 "2010-07-22T13:21:56Z")
> **[Call Before You Dig! — Gas Main Explosion](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/call-before-you-dig/)** > > Photographs allegedly show a gas pipeline rupture and explosion caused by a neglectful backhoe operator. ---
**Author:** ![Hass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Hass](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Hass)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/3 "2010-07-22T13:23:19Z")
o.O ouch. must have def been pretty beefy of a digger to do that… unless he wanted to do it on purpose. i do oil pipeline jobs from time to time, and that shit is usually pretty damn thick wall. but since it’s a gas pipeline i don’t know much about those. don’t get those too often. ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/4 "2010-07-22T13:24:28Z")
Man, too bad there are no pictures of the fireball. It must have been insane. I watched the guys operating a back hoe hit a gas line over at main and spindrift. You could hear the hissing from our office about 300 yards away. The worst part was it was the national fuel guys doing the digging when they did their major renovations 4 years ago. They’re the ones you call to see where to dig! It was just dumb luck it didn’t explode in the 10’minutes or so it took them to shut it off. ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/5 "2010-07-22T13:25:55Z")
[http://media.gatewayva.com/lna/specials/appomattox-pipeline-report.pdf](http://media.gatewayva.com/lna/specials/appomattox-pipeline-report.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Motocrossx23](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/motocrossx23/32/5120_2.png) [@Motocrossx23](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Motocrossx23)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/6 "2010-07-22T13:29:09Z")
Haha, stupid fucker. ---
**Author:** ![97FormulaWS-6](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/97formulaws-6/32/7384_2.png) [@97FormulaWS-6](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/97FormulaWS-6)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/7 "2010-07-22T13:31:59Z")
I called the number when I put my fence up. Everyone showed up or gave the all clear… Found a 12" Storm sewer running through my yard unmarked… luckilly I knew it was there from when they replaced it. They just never came to mark the thing. Gotta be careful no matter what when you dig. ---
**Author:** ![breakstuff](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/breakstuff/32/5413_2.png) [@breakstuff](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/breakstuff)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/8 "2010-07-22T13:33:30Z")
I would like mythbusters to recreate this and then some. Aren’t bigger lines flagged with permanent poles in rural areas? I think they are around here… ---
**Author:** ![KuntryQuestTSi](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/kuntryquesttsi/32/5010_2.png) [@KuntryQuestTSi](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/KuntryQuestTSi)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/9 "2010-07-22T13:39:08Z")
why is that under a farmers field??? After enough farming chisel plowing will come close to that pipe!! ---
**Author:** ![Paulo](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/paulo/32/7328_2.png) [@Paulo](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Paulo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/10 "2010-07-22T13:41:28Z")
> [@Hass](#): > > o.O ouch. > > must have def been pretty beefy of a digger to do that… unless he wanted to do it on purpose. > i do oil pipeline jobs from time to time, and that shit is usually pretty damn thick wall. > > but since it’s a gas pipeline i don’t know much about those. > don’t get those too often. > [@JayS](#): > > Man, too bad there are no pictures of the fireball. It must have been insane. > > I watched the guys operating a back hoe hit a gas line over at main and spindrift. You could hear the hissing from our office about 300 yards away. The worst part was it was the national fuel guys doing the digging when they did their major renovations 4 years ago. They’re the ones you call to see where to dig! It was just dumb luck it didn’t explode in the 10’minutes or so it took them to shut it off. It wasn’t a backhoe. > [@Fry](#): > > [Call Before You Dig! — Gas Main Explosion | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/gasmain.asp) ---
**Author:** ![TrueBlue](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/trueblue/32/7245_2.png) [@TrueBlue](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TrueBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/11 "2010-07-22T13:54:47Z")
37 foot wide, 15 foot deep crater, and a _1125-foot diameter_ burn circle. Corrosion kills, kids. ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/12 "2010-07-22T13:57:56Z")
Thank you. For anyone who isn’t into link clicking, that is an explosion from a gas pipeline, but not caused by a farmer digging. It was a 30" pipeline with natural gas at 800 psi (for reference, when it comes into your house it’s at about 0.25 psi) installed in the 1950’s. It does span across the country, but not in one straight solid run or anything crazy like that. It goes through various pumping stations, branches, valves, etc. But it is a main supply line that spans the country at 800 psi. The pipe failed mechanically. Basically it rusted and broke. The ignition was probably caused by the gas hitting a crazy high velocity when the pipe broke and released all that pressure and the resulting particulate collisions in the high velocity gas stream causing a spark. ---
**Author:** ![fiend540](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bcef8e/32.png) [@fiend540](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/fiend540)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/13 "2010-07-22T13:59:36Z")
My father is currently working on a project redoing water mains for the city of Buffalo not because they really need to be done, but because they have no clue where the fuck they are run underneath the ground. A lot of our older utilities were done when a liquid lunch was common and what was drawn on paper is not what happened in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/14 "2010-07-22T14:05:01Z")
> [@fiend540](#): > > My father is currently working on a project redoing water mains for the city of Buffalo not because they really need to be done, but because they have no clue where the fuck they are run underneath the ground. A lot of our older utilities were done when a liquid lunch was common and what was drawn on paper is not what happened in reality. That’s wild. I guess some places (not necessarily in Buffalo, more rural townships) still have wood water pipes. ---
**Author:** ![Onyx\_Z32](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/onyx_z32/32/7581_2.png) [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/15 "2010-07-22T14:13:24Z")
lol @ everyone ignoring Fry’s links 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![burnt\_toast](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/burnt_toast/32/7518_2.png) [@burnt\_toast](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/burnt_toast)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/16 "2010-07-22T14:39:59Z")
> [@Onyx Z32](#): > > lol @ everyone ignoring Fry’s links 🙂 hahaha i was thinking that as i was reading down the thread, hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/17 "2010-07-22T18:14:53Z")
cant believe it was corrosion… so basically it could happen anywhere anytime and you wouldnt know… underground corrosion. also… in this case i believe snopes since there is soome supporting evidence… but snopes is not automatically correct. ---
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/18 "2010-07-22T18:58:06Z")
> [@Fry](#): > > Thank you. > > The pipe failed mechanically. Basically it rusted and broke. The ignition was probably caused by the gas hitting a crazy high velocity when the pipe broke and released all that pressure and the resulting particulate collisions in the high velocity gas stream causing a spark. No, thank you. I was wondering what sparked it. ---
**Author:** ![Nikeman](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/nikeman/32/5141_2.png) [@Nikeman](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Nikeman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/19 "2010-07-22T19:22:22Z")
> [@bing](#): > > cant believe it was corrosion… so basically it could happen anywhere anytime and you wouldnt know… underground corrosion. This is the part that is scary…so many things that we can’t control. ---
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199/20 "2010-07-22T20:19:24Z")
> [@Nikeman](#): > > This is the part that is scary…so many things that we can’t control. plastic/composite? p/s I \<3 your car [Next page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/call-before-you-dig/158199.md?page=2)