The Common Ground Alliance (CGA), the national nonprofit trade association dedicated to protecting underground utility lines, as well as the people who dig near them and their communities, has released its latest findings in the 2023 Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report.
CGA is a member-driven association of nearly 4,200 damage prevention professionals spanning every facet of the underground utility industry. Since its establishment in 2000, CGA has dedicated itself to saving lives and preventing damage to North American underground infrastructure through the promotion of effective damage prevention practices.
This 2023 DIRT Report introduces the CGA Index, a new metric for evaluating year-over-year damage trends, which revealed both progress and a critical need for accelerated action to prevent damage to vital underground infrastructure.
The annual DIRT Report provides a comprehensive analysis of damages to buried infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada to help stakeholders understand the current damage landscape and the factors contributing to underground facility damages. In its inaugural year, the CGA Index metric shows a six-point decrease in damages compared to the 2022 baseline. However, to meet CGA’s industry goal of reducing damages by 50 percent over five years, the report underscores that significant work is needed.
“While the six-point decrease reflected by the CGA Index is encouraging, the data in the DIRT Report highlights the persistent issues where progress is critical,” stated Sarah K. Magruder Lyle, the CGA President and Chief Executive Officer. “The surge in excavation activities fueled by infrastructure investments combined with the ongoing challenge of completing utility locates requires our continued collaborative and data-driven approach to address the behaviors and practices that most contribute to damages.”
Getting to the Root Cause of Damage
The 2023 DIRT Report reveals continuing challenges; the same top six damage root causes account for a 76 percent of all incidents for a third consecutive year:
- Failure to notify 811 (26.23 percent);
- The excavator failed to maintain clearance (15.12 percent);
- A Facility not marked due to locator error (14.43 percent);
- An improper excavation practice not listed elsewhere (8.2 percent);
- An area was marked inaccurately due to locator error (7.23 percent);
- An excavation was dug prior to verifying marks done via potholing (4.61 percent).
The need for a data-based approach to damage mitigation is further amplified by a predicted surge in excavation activities driven by continued infrastructure investment.
According to the 2023 DIRT Report, telecommunications infrastructure accounted for nearly 50 percent of all damage, followed by natural gas facilities at 40 percent. Water/sewer and telecommunications work remained the leading source of these incidents. With $85.4 billion in broadband expansion and $55 billion in water infrastructure improvements, the potential for increased damages is significant.
Late Locates Present Ongoing Challenge
Using data from 12 states, the Report reveals that excavators face essentially 50-50 odds of being able to legally start work on time due to utilities not providing timely locates—undermining confidence in the 811 system and potentially contributing to the single leading root cause of damages: failure to notify 811. The 811 system is a number that can be used for a variety of purposes, including non-urgent health services, requesting utility location services, and calling before you dig)
Several states have implemented innovative solutions to address this challenge. Georgia 811 established an "excavation readiness" metric as a consistent tool to measure location timeliness, while New Mexico regulators issue warning requests and fines for non-compliance. Massachusetts focused on collaborative problem-solving between regulators and operators, Minnesota launched a GPS-enabled locating device program, and North Carolina conducted a data-driven analysis of ticket screening effects.
These state-level initiatives demonstrate the industry's efforts to improve locating practices through creative enforcement, technology adoption, and data analysis. As the damage prevention community continues to address late locates, these case studies offer valuable insights for enhancing the efficiency and safety of the 811 process nationwide.
Data-Driven Recommendations
The 2023 DIRT Report features a set of data-driven recommendations aimed at significantly reducing damages to underground utilities.
These recommendations call for enhanced data quality and reporting across all stakeholders, including participation in the Damage Prevention Institute and implementation of standardized metrics for locating timeliness.
The report also emphasizes the need for targeted strategies to address top damage drivers, such as tailored education programs for high-risk sectors and improved coordination to manage the impact of increased infrastructure investments.
"The quality and depth of our data analysis for the 2023 Report, including the new CGA Index, has allowed us to provide more specific, actionable recommendations than ever before," commented Louis Panzer, Executive Director of North Carolina 811 and Co-Chair of CGA’s Data Reporting and Evaluation Committee. "However, we must continue to improve our data collection processes, reduce unknown entries, and leverage tools like the DIRT Interactive Dashboard to gain even deeper insights into damage prevention. As we pursue our 50-in-5 challenge, high-quality, standardized data will be the cornerstone of our efforts to enhance safety and protect underground infrastructure across the industry."
The complete DIRT Annual Report for 2023, along with an Interactive Dashboard featuring data from 2021-2023, is available at www.dirt.commongroundalliance.com.