New data from the Common Ground Alliance, a non-profit trade association dedicated to protecting underground utility lines and the people who dig near them, finds that damaged to buries utilities have trended upward over the past three years.

The findings from the organization’s 2022 Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) report show that damages per construction spending rose by more than 12% for the period of 2020 to 2022, and damages per 1,000 transmissions rose 9.34% between 2021 and 2022.

A regression analysis of consistent 2020 to 2022 data that considered additional variables including weather, population and infrastructure density suggests that damages were at best flat and likely increasing.

The annual report provides a comprehensive accounting and 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. As excavation activity continues to increase – and particularly due to an accelerated pace of work created by the United States’ Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – the report underscores the importance of addressing the ongoing causes of damages to vital facilities to drive these damage numbers down.

Data for the report is submitted voluntarily by facility operators, utility locating companies, 811 centers, contractors, regulators and others from the U.S. and Canada, and is contextualized as part of a three-year trend analysis. Given excavation/construction stakeholders’ increased engagement with damage prevention, that key group was the leading source of damage reports for the first time in 2022.

There were 244,232 total damage reports across Canada and the United States in 2022. The data also shows 213,792 unique reported damages, 2,254 near-miss reports, and 2,043 unique near misses. Canadian statistics are far lower than those in the United States, with 10,422 total damage reports, 9,783 unique damages, 281 near misses and 261 unique near misses.

The report finds that a few persistent challenges are responsible for nearly 76% of damages that occur. These include no notification to a call centre, failure to pothole and/or maintain sufficient clearance, facilities not marked or marked inaccurately due to locator error, and other improper excavation practices.

No-notification damages make up more than 25% of all damages, with 77% of no-notification damages attributed to professional excavators. Focusing industry efforts and outreach on these top challenges is key to making measurable progress in reducing damage and near-miss incidents.

The report encourages stakeholders to generate new solutions to what it calls, “the persistent, systemic issues causing the majority of damages.”

Recommendations provided to address specific root cause groups included:

• place a new focus on call-before-you-dig resources, such as call centres, to restore excavator confidence,
• prioritize tolerance zone safety, address contracts to provide adequate compensation for potholing and provide excavators with access to map visualizations, and
• enhance facility maps to GIS-grade, address contract structures to emphasize timeliness and accuracy, and increase efficiency through effective use of the 811 system.

The report also provides recommendations to enhance reporting and analysis of damages to better understand and address trends, including the implementation of standardized data collection fields and the creation of damage prevention indices to gauge progress over time.

Stakeholders are also encouraged to participate in the Damage Prevention Institute's accreditation and peer review processes to help develop the next-generation of industry performance metrics.

“Earlier this year, we challenged the industry with the ambitious goal of reducing damages by 50% over the next five years,” said CGA President and CEO Sarah Magruder Lyle. “The findings of the DIRT Report are critical to focusing the industry on key areas contributing to more than three-quarters of all damages to buried infrastructure. To make significant change and reverse damage rates, it’s critical that our industry rapidly adopts the recommendations outlined in this Report to target the most persistent challenges.”

The complete DIRT Annual Report for 2022 is available for download at dirt.commongroundalliance.com.