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What the Locate Marks Mean at Your Gate Line
After a utility locate request in Georgetown, the lawn and driveway fill with paint and little flags, and each color means something specific. Red is electric, yellow is gas, orange is communications, blue is water, green is sewer and purple is reclaimed water. The marks show where the utilities believe their lines run, not how deep, and they define a strip on either side where digging is done by hand. Reading them correctly at a gate line keeps the post holes safe and in the right place.
The color code
The colors follow a national standard used by locators across the country.
- Red: electric power lines, cables and conduit.
- Yellow: gas, oil, steam and other flammable material.
- Orange: telephone, cable television, fiber and other communications.
- Blue: drinking water.
- Green: sewer and drain lines.
- Purple: reclaimed water and irrigation supply.
- Pink: temporary survey marks.
- White: the proposed dig area, marked by the person who requested the locate.
Paint, flags and stakes
Locators use spray paint on hard surfaces and grass, and small wire flags or stakes in soft ground. A line of paint dashes with arrows shows the path. A pair of parallel lines can show the edges of a larger pipe or a duct bank. Letters or numbers beside the mark sometimes give the owner's initials, the size of the pipe, the material or the number of conduits.
What a mark shows
A mark shows the approximate horizontal position of a line. It does not show the depth. A line may run a foot below the surface at one spot and four feet below at another, and a driveway grade change can alter it. A mark also has a tolerance, which in Texas is a strip on either side of the line, commonly two feet. Within that strip, machine digging is not allowed and hand tools are used. Treat the tolerance zone as part of the line.
Marks at a gate line
A gate line sits close to the street, where service lines cross the lot from the main to the house. Expect to see a blue line from the water meter box to the house, a green line from the sewer cleanout, a red line from the electric service point and one or more orange lines along the front. Each crosses the strip where posts, footings and trenches for gate operators might go. Draw the marks on a sketch of the gate line as soon as they appear, so the post positions can be adjusted on paper.
Moving a post
If a mark falls where a post should stand, move the post. Shifting a post six inches to one side seldom changes the look of a gate, and it keeps the footing out of the tolerance zone. For a wider conflict, a different gate type may help. A sliding gate on a track, for example, has footings in different places than a swing gate with two posts. Share the marked sketch with the fabricator.
Private lines are not marked
The locate covers utility owned lines. Lines on the owner's side of the meter, such as a sprinkler system, a yard light circuit, a gas line to an outdoor grill or a line to a detached building, are not marked. Many Georgetown lots, especially outside the city's sewer area, have a septic system with tanks and drain lines that no utility will mark. Plans from the builder, a private locating service or careful probing can find these.
Missing or conflicting marks
If a utility known to serve the area has not marked, or if the marks do not match what is visible, call 811 again and report the problem before digging. A flag may have been knocked over, rain may have washed away the paint or a locator may have missed a line. Do not assume that an unmarked area is clear. The ticket number from the request is the reference for any follow up.
Protect the marks
Photograph the marks as soon as they are complete, with a tape or a marker in the frame for scale. Keep vehicles and mowers off the flags. If rain or traffic wipes out the paint before digging, request a remark. Marks last for a limited time, often around two weeks, and an expired ticket needs renewing.
After digging
Once the post holes are filled and the work is done, leave the marks to fade on their own. If a line was exposed, photograph it, note its depth and color and keep the photo. A future project near the same spot will benefit.
If a line is hit
Stop work at once, keep everyone back, and call the utility that owns the line. If the line is gas, leave the area and call 911 from a safe distance. Do not try to repair a utility line. Report the damage to 811 as well, since the law requires it.
Reading the marks takes a few minutes and costs nothing, and at a Georgetown gate line it is the step that keeps a post hole from becoming an emergency.
A sample gate line, step by step
Imagine a gate line fifty feet wide along the front of a Georgetown lot, with a driveway in the middle. Walking the line after a locate, an owner might find a red line near the left edge, running from a pole to the house, and a blue line cutting across the drive from the water meter. A green line may drop from the street to a cleanout beside the house, and an orange pair of dashes runs along the sidewalk. Sketch each on a copy of the plan with its color noted and the distance from the nearest property pin.
Then place the proposed posts on the sketch. Anywhere a post falls within two feet of a mark, slide it over or choose another gate type. Doing this on paper, with the colors in front of you, is far easier than doing it with a post hole open.
Offsets and abbreviations
Some locators mark an offset line, painted a set distance to one side of the real line because the real line lies under pavement or a structure. An offset mark carries a note giving the distance. Read the notes before assuming the paint sits directly over the line.