So, why should you call Dig Smart of Maine to perform an underground utility survey of your site? Doesn't Dig Safe do the same thing? And for free?

Well, consider this job site. This is how a contractor, hired to do some excavating near that propane tank, found the site on the morning he planned to start digging. There's plenty of reassuring paint on the ground, all of it saying there's nothing here – no gas, no sewer, no electric or cable...

...but step back a bit, and the story gets more complex. Clearly, there's lots of stuff running through the ground around here! Since there's a generator and a chiller here, all of the connections that those need, like propane and power lines, have to be around here somewhere. There also must be power cables connected to the parking lot lights.

So why does Dig Safe's paint on the ground say that there's nothing here?

The member companies of Dig Safe don't own every single buried pipe and cable in the state – not even close. And naturally they don't have any responsibility for things they don't own. Since none of the Dig Safe member companies owned any of the many buried utilities at this site, all of their marks showed "OK to dig". From all of those "all clear" marks, a contractor might assume that they're good to go – with messy results.

Dig Safe, useful as they are, can't always tell you the whole story of what lies underground. We at Dig Smart are here to finish that story for you and your crews.

For more information, or just to ask a question, feel free to contact us.