Case study: an unmarked medium voltage line found during an ALTA survey

A survey company brought us in on an ALTA survey of a developed apartment complex. The 811 process had already been run properly, including the longer notice period that design requests require, and the public operators had completed their work.

Our scope was the private utilities across the complex, and verification of the public marks that were already down.

What verification turned up

Most of the public marks checked out. One thing did not appear on them at all: a medium-voltage line running through the centre of the property, along an easement nobody involved had on record.

A medium-voltage line is not a cable anyone wants to find with a bucket. It was unmarked, it crossed the middle of a developed site, and the easement it followed was not in the documents the survey was working from.

Why a correctly run 811 ticket can still miss a line

811 operators mark from their own records within their own standard of care. If a facility is not in an operator's records, is owned by a party who did not receive the notice, or sits on an easement that was never properly documented, it does not get marked. The ticket was handled correctly and the line was still not there.

This is the practical answer to the question of why anyone would pay for private locating after calling 811. The free call covers public facilities that operators know about. It does not certify that nothing else is buried.

Why it matters on an ALTA survey

An ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey is used for title, lending and development decisions, and utility evidence is commonly requested as part of it. An unmarked medium-voltage line along an undocumented easement is exactly the sort of finding that belongs on that drawing before somebody buys, finances or builds on the site.

• Private utilities across the whole complex, located and mapped.

• Public marks verified rather than assumed correct.

• An unmarked medium-voltage line identified and its route established.

• An easement nobody had on record brought to the surveyor's attention.

Findings can be captured with RTK as survey-grade points, which is usually what a survey company wants rather than paint on the ground.

Related reading: utility mapping for property and construction projects and 811 one-call centers and dig notice requirements.

Private locating and public mark verification

Advanced Underground Utility Locating has been locating private utilities since 2002. We work with survey companies, engineers and developers to locate private utilities, verify the public 811 marks, and mark public lines that were missed. RTK data collection is available for findings that need to go into a drawing.

Spokane, Coeur d'Alene and the Idaho panhandle: 509-710-2621. Seattle, Tacoma and Portland: 509-954-8623. Bend, Medford and northern California: 541-678-0629. Eugene and Roseburg: 541-780-4149. Coos Bay and the Oregon Coast: 541-315-6728.