Finding Private Lines Before You Dig in Medford, Grants Pass, and Ashland
The Rogue Valley has its own set of underground conditions. Irrigation is everywhere. Most properties outside the city limits are on a well and septic. The soil changes from clay to river rock within a mile. And since 2020, a great deal of rebuilding has taken place on lots where the original utilities are still in the ground. 811 marks the utility company's lines to the meter. We mark what lies past it.
What is in the ground here
Irrigation. The valley runs on it. Between the irrigation districts and private systems on orchards, vineyards, and acreage lots, mains, laterals, and control wire cross most properties. They are usually plastic and shallow. They are the first thing a fence crew or a trenching machine strikes.
Wells and septic. Outside Medford, Ashland, and Grants Pass city services, assume a well line running to the house and a septic tank and drain field running away from it. Neither is marked by 811. The drain field is easy to damage with equipment if its location is unknown.
Rebuild lots. On properties rebuilt after the fires, the new house often went in with new services while the old lines stayed in the ground. Old gas, old water, and old power to a shop that no longer exists all remain. They are not on the new drawings, and they still appear when you dig.
Changing soil. Clay in one spot, river cobble in the next. Ground penetrating radar works better in some of it than the rest. We use electromagnetic locating first for anything metallic or anything we can put a signal on, and GPR where the soil allows us to see plastic pipe, tanks, and disturbed ground.
Lines we locate that 811 leaves unmarked
Irrigation mains, laterals, and valve wire
Well line from the wellhead to the house
Septic tank, distribution box, and drain field
Power to shops, barns, wells, and detached garages
Propane from the tank to the house
Private water and sewer on the customer side of the meter
Abandoned lines from previous owners or previous structures
When to schedule a locate
Fencing or vineyard trellis posts on acreage
Shop, barn, or ADU construction, including the trench for the new feed
Septic work, starting with locating the tank
Irrigation repair or expansion where you are tying into an existing system
Any excavation on a rebuild lot or a property that has changed hands
What you get
Paint in the standard APWA colors, so your crew and the 811 marks agree. We are able to give depth estimates when requested at the time of service or during scheduling. For a permit, a design, or a client, a sketch or a GPS/RTK file of the findings (when selected at time of service).
Scheduling in Southern Oregon and Northern California
Our Southern Oregon office covers Medford, Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Central Point, Grants Pass, Rogue River, and south to Yreka. Send us the address and a description of the work and we will schedule a time. Contractors with regular work can set up an account and skip the quote step.
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