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Calling 811 Before Digging Gate Post Holes
Anyone digging gate post holes in Georgetown should request a utility locate through 811 first, and then wait for the marks before breaking ground. Texas law requires the request before digging, the utility owners mark their buried lines for free, and the owner or contractor then digs with care around those marks. A gate post hole can be three feet deep or more, which is deep enough to reach gas, water, electric, telecom and sewer lines that run near the front of many lots.
Why a gate post is a risk
Most buried utilities sit along the street edge of a lot, which is where gates and their posts go. Service lines run from the street to the house, often crossing the drive. A post hole at the edge of a driveway has a real chance of meeting one. Striking a gas line is dangerous. Cutting a fiber or power line can take out service for a block and bring a repair bill and possibly a fine.
The request is free, the wait is short, and skipping it is the one step with no good excuse.
How the request works
Texas811 is the state's one call center for underground utility locates. A person calls 811 or submits a request online, and gives the address, the nearest cross street, the type of work and the exact spot on the lot where digging will happen. The center sends the ticket to every member utility with lines in that area. Each utility sends a locator to mark its lines or to report that it has none there.
The ticket has a number, and the number is worth saving. It proves when the request was made and what was asked.
The wait
Utilities are given a set number of working days to respond. Texas rules call for a wait of at least two full business days after the request before digging starts, not counting the day of the call. Weekends and holidays do not count. A request placed on Friday afternoon is not ready until midweek. Planning the install date around this wait saves a fabricator from showing up to a hole that cannot be dug.
Tickets last for a limited time, often about two weeks. If the work is delayed beyond that, the ticket has to be renewed and the marks may need to be redone, since paint fades and rain washes it away.
Who calls
The person doing the digging is responsible for the request. A fabricator or installer who digs post holes usually places the call, but an owner who digs alone must place it, and an owner who hires a contractor should ask for the ticket number before work begins. Never assume someone else made the call.
Mark the dig area
Locators work within the area marked by the requester. Outline the dig zone in white paint or flags before the locators arrive. For a gate, mark the post positions, the swing arc if trenching for an operator, and the path of any conduit for lights or power. If the electric run for an automatic opener will trench across the lot, include that path in the request. A request that leaves out a trench leaves that trench unprotected.
What gets marked
Utility owners mark the approximate location of their lines with paint and flags, using a standard color code. Red is electric, yellow is gas or oil, orange is communications, blue is potable water, green is sewer and drain, and purple is reclaimed water. A separate article on this site explains reading the marks in more detail.
The marks show the line's approximate path. The exact depth is not marked. The tolerance zone, a strip on either side of the mark, is where digging by machine is off limits and hand tools are the rule.
Private lines are not included
Locators mark the utility's own lines, usually up to the meter or the property line. They do not mark private lines on the owner's side, such as a sprinkler system, a yard light circuit, a gas line to a grill or pool heater, a septic line or a line to a detached building. Georgetown has many lots outside the city's sewer system, where a septic tank and drain field sit somewhere in the yard. For private lines, the owner has to find them using plans, a private locator service or careful probing, and avoid them.
If no one marks
If a utility has not responded by the end of the wait, call 811 again to report it and ask for the ticket to be updated. Do not dig on the assumption that no response means no lines. A missing mark is a reason to wait, not a reason to proceed.
After the marks
Take photos of the marks before work begins. Photos show what was marked and where, and they help if a line is damaged. Keep the marks visible until the post holes are filled. If rain wipes them out before digging, request a remark.
Setting the schedule
A sensible schedule has four steps. Fix the post positions on the drawing. Place the 811 request as soon as those are known. Mark the dig zone in white. Set the install date no sooner than the wait allows, with a few days of slack for a late locator. A fabricator who builds the gate in the shop while the request clears loses no time.
For more on preparing a lot for a new gate, see georgetown metal gates files.
A single phone call before the first shovel keeps a gate project safe, legal and on schedule.
What a request for a gate looks like
A good request for a gate project is specific. Give the street address, the nearest cross street and a plain description such as installing two steel gate posts and trenching conduit for an opener at the front of the lot. Name the side of the lot and the distance from the street. The center turns that into a ticket, and the more exact the description, the more exact the marks.
Renewal and changes
If the plan changes after the ticket is issued, for instance a post moves to the other side of the drive, update the request. A mark placed for one position does not cover another. If rain or traffic wipes out the paint, ask for a remark on the same ticket rather than starting a new one.
Neighbors and shared lines
Service lines for a neighbor's house sometimes cross the owner's lot, and locators mark them as well. A gate close to a shared boundary may meet the neighbor's lines, which is another reason to mark the dig zone clearly and to ask the neighbor if they know of anything buried near the line.