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One of the biggest problems facing any contractors who are undertaking any sort of groundwork is avoiding striking underground utilities. They can be anywhere Wholesale Vancouver Canucks Jerseys , even in the most unlikely places. For instance, most people wouldn't look over a hedge at a herd of cows in a field and think to themselves that there could be buried utilities in the field, yet it might just be the shortest route between two villages and there are indeed gas and water pipes, and electric cables right under the cows' feet.

The only correct approach before you dig anywhere is to assume that there are buried utilities in the ground, even if the plans say something different. This is because the plans are often inaccurate. When you understand that there are some 60 Wholesale Canucks Jerseys ,000 buried utility strikes in the UK every year you begin to understand the scale of the problem. That works out to 230 strikes EVERY DAY, assuming a five day week.


As an absolute minimum, striking an underground cable or other utility is going to cause a delay in the project while the utility company sends someone out to clear up the mess. If you are a contractor, that is going to cost you money because you have men standing around idle. You may also find that the main contractor penalises you for the delay. You could also be liable for much bigger costs because your cable strike has shut down half a dozen companies in the middle of their production runs and they make a claim for loss of income.


Worse still, your workers could be injured or even killed as a result of a cable strike. There are around a dozen fatalities every year from such a cause. The costs of compensation can be absolutely enormous Cheap Vancouver Canucks Jerseys , and it is no exaggeration to say that companies have been forced to close as a result of striking an underground utility.


While an understanding of STATS 鈥?buried services plans 鈥?is vital for any contractor undertaking groundwork, they must not be relied upon entirely. It is necessary to locate all underground services as accurately as possible using a cable avoidance tool and a signal generator in combination. These two pieces of equipment, known for short as a CAT and a Genny, will help to locate buried services and avoid cable strikes. Even so, it is not sufficient to buy one of each and simply read the handbook.


In exactly the same way that you can't reach the age of 17 Cheap Canucks Jerseys , buy a car, read the handbook, and then take it out on the motorway without having a series of driving lessons and passing a test, the same thing applies in this case. You need to take a CAT and Genny training course with a recognised and qualified instruction company.


Over the years, there have been advances in technology Wholesale Sam Gagner Jersey , and the equipment that is available today is sophisticated. Even so, the CAT and Genny have limitations and you need to be able to understand them as well. The fact is that, despite some of the training courses that are available, there are still a huge number of cable strikes every year, and part of the problem seems to be that contractors have made the assumption that because someone has been on a CAT and Genny course he knows everything that he needs to know.


Just because someone has been on a training course doesn't necessarily mean that he will be competent and confident in applying that knowledge out in the field. Making a comparison with driving lessons again Wholesale Jay Beagle Jersey , despite the fact that you have to take driving lessons and pass a test, we still have thousands of car accidents every year.


Contractors need to spend time overseeing their surveyors and making certain that they are fully competent in the use of the CAT and Genny and that they are aware of the limitations. Nothing and nobody are perfect, and there will still be cable strikes regardless, just as we have road accidents, but contractors do need to put more thought into how they locate underground services in order to keep incidents to the absolute minimum.