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What do these paint markings in my street mean?

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As has already been mentioned, those are utility markings, USUALLY done before some kind of digging is about to commence.

There are a couple of companies that provide this service at no charge to the customer.

If you dig without making the call and you hit the utilities, YOU are liable for all costs incurred to make the repairs.

note: those are usually only approximate locations...and the actual location can vary by 10 feet...🙄 and they only mark the KNOWN utilities. It's not at all uncommon to "find" other water and sewer lines that aren't marked...

I'm sure skyking has some good tales about such things...he's an excavator operator.

I set a crane up in the street to hoist a large transformer when I worked for the utility company and unbeknownst to us, there was an old abandoned sewer line buried...right under my outrigger...which punched through the asphalt and into the old pipeline. Took a bit of doing to keep from dumping the crane with the 30,000 lb transformer on the hook...and a bit more doing to extricate the seat from my ass when it was all over. 😛
 
It means you're going to have about $500,000 worth of equipment parked in your yard doing nothing (tractors, and stuff), a giant hole in front of your driveway, and it will stay there for most of the summer, then they'll fill it in and pave it in winter and it will crack again.

At least, that's what it means in my city. They'll put more markings in the spring and repeat the process about 3 times.
 
A 50W CO2 laser with appropriate optics can take down the shoes with minimal collateral damage to the wires. 😉 (The laces will catch fire) If one of them sees it they will think it's Satan and never run that street again!
 
BoomerD said:
As has already been mentioned, those are utility markings, USUALLY done before some kind of digging is about to commence.

There are a couple of companies that provide this service at no charge to the customer.

If you dig without making the call and you hit the utilities, YOU are liable for all costs incurred to make the repairs.

note: those are usually only approximate locations...and the actual location can vary by 10 feet...🙄 and they only mark the KNOWN utilities. It's not at all uncommon to "find" other water and sewer lines that aren't marked...

I'm sure skyking has some good tales about such things...he's an excavator operator.

I set a crane up in the street to hoist a large transformer when I worked for the utility company and unbeknownst to us, there was an old abandoned sewer line buried...right under my outrigger...which punched through the asphalt and into the old pipeline. Took a bit of doing to keep from dumping the crane with the 30,000 lb transformer on the hook...and a bit more doing to extricate the seat from my ass when it was all over. 😛
Click to expand...


Yow, that's frightening.
Hopefully you wore your brown pants that day.
 
Rubycon said:
A 50W CO2 laser with appropriate optics can take down the shoes with minimal collateral damage to the wires. 😉 (The laces will catch fire) If one of them sees it they will think it's Satan and never run that street again!
Click to expand...

I'd actually be quite interested in seeing this...
 
It could be something as trivial as him replacing a section of his sidewalk. Before you bring in equipment to do any digging, as a rule of thumb, you get the utilities to mark where they're at (which is generally a free service) - just to protect yourself from liability.
 
The blue is Water / Sewer with a 10-14 inch diameter main. Apparently, they will soon be digging up your block, hopefully to replace them.

Color Codes

What do the colors mean?
The nationally recognized color code system for utility locating provides a universally accepted system for engineers, facility managers and construction workers to be able to understand the type of utility that may he hidden under the ground, in walls or behind concrete.
When working in a mark-out area proceed with caution. Flags and paint markings are placed with the use of sophisticated utility locating equipment. Utility Survey uses advanced Ground Penetrating Radar, Radio Frequency location equipment and other devices in an effort to determine the type and depth of hidden obstacles.
Although markings are placed based upon the best understanding of the equipment output inaccuracies can occur due to equipment limitations and other factors. Do not make assumptions about the continuation of a mark out beyond the bounds of the survey area.




color-codes-chart.jpg
 
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MotionMan said:
But what does it/could it mean that they are putting these markings in front of my neighbor's and my house?

I am assuming that it means they are planning on doing some sort of work, at least where they are marking, but, if that was the case, I would think they would have contacted me about it.

MotionMan
Click to expand...

i had similar markings in front of my house for a week before they replaced the flowmeters on my street. they dug a 5 foot hole in my yard to do this and broke pipes leading to my house by accident in the process. luckily i was home the day they started so i knew it was happening. they really dont need to let you know in advance. they tried to charge me for repairing the broken pipes since it was on "my side" of the flowmeter, but being 5 feet underground i had a good argument for me not tampering with the system. i still could not make them liable for the extra (3 times more) water that was charged to me due to the broken pipes for 3 months.
 
hanoverphist said:
i had similar markings in front of my house for a week before they replaced the flowmeters on my street. they dug a 5 foot hole in my yard to do this and broke pipes leading to my house by accident in the process. luckily i was home the day they started so i knew it was happening. they really dont need to let you know in advance. they tried to charge me for repairing the broken pipes since it was on "my side" of the flowmeter, but being 5 feet underground i had a good argument for me not tampering with the system. i still could not make them liable for the extra (3 times more) water that was charged to me due to the broken pipes for 3 months.
Click to expand...

Is a flowmeter different than the water meter? My water meter is at the opposite end of my property, near my other neighbor's property.

MotionMan
 
Lotheron said:
They still use telegraphs in your area?
Click to expand...

Only when ashore. At sea I use the Marconi Wireless to post! 😛

The lower and larger wires are always for telecommunications. Sometimes the electric wires for traffic signals get shoes too. Rarely do they reach the secondary electric lines and I've never seen them hanging from primary (distribution) lines!
 
MotionMan said:
Is a flowmeter different than the water meter? My water meter is at the opposite end of my property, near my other neighbor's property.

MotionMan
Click to expand...

a flowmeter measures the amount of water passed through it, so if thats what youre calling a water meter then yes its the same. i tend to call them flowmeters due to using them for more than just water in my line of work. it could be water, chlorine, fuel or any number of different liquids im measuring.
 
rubycon said:
only when ashore. At sea i use the marconi wireless to post! 😛

the lower and larger wires are always for telecommunications. Sometimes the electric wires for traffic signals get shoes too. Rarely do they reach the secondary electric lines and i've never seen them hanging from primary (distribution) lines!
Click to expand...

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